I ride in urban areas, because that is where I live, and it takes about 30 min (in a car) to get to the country so I would have to take a day trip to ride there.
I think a lot of the difference is what Cataboo said. Where you have a higher density of people, you will get more harassment just because there are more of that type of people in a crowd.
I live in a rough part of Buffalo, NY, and some of the people are respectful, and some are rude. The responses also vary depending on where in the city I ride. The places where more bikes are ridden are more tolerant, and bike-friendly (generally where the young progressive people live) than the poorer, ghetto areas.(where there is no funding for anything so we have rotten sidewalks, and rough streets)
My brother has had a car try to run him off the road, but I have had cars wait for me to go at 4-way stop signs, so there are both extremes.
I am comfortable riding in the city....I don't like high speeds, or high density of cars, but I rarely ride on those kind of roads.