I lived in the city with my first son. The city, if you are in the suburbs, is actually quite good for kids. We lived in Wollishofen which has good facilities for kids such as lots of parks and good schools. When we came back to Switzerland last year we decided it would be preferable for us to bring our kids up in the countryside rather then a city. One of the main factors in this was wanting to live in a house rather than an apartment. In the village where we are we can let out 5 year old walk to his friends house by himself and go outside to play by himself which we would not have been able to do in the city so he is much more independent than he would have been if we stayed in Wollishofen. Both have their good points and bad but I am happy where we are now as only 30 mins to Zurich and 20 to Zug. Biggest downside is getting home after a big night out.