My only criteria for an a/c is can it get me and a mate/couple of mates into and out of a 500 mtr ish strip. I couldn't care less what it is I'm flying (or not flying at the moment) TBH. The view is more or less the same out of all of them which is what floats my personal boat.
I do find it wearing when the 'You can't aero a 172' , or more frequently in this forum 'Try gliding, it's the cure for everything from piles to dry rot' brigade pitch up in a thread. We all get different things out of flying, which is just as it should be, just the same as we all like different food in a restaurant. I'm not interested in the aileron response of a 150 cf a Vans or whether it can fly upside down while whistling Dixie, couldn't care less. I like to fly for the views and the pub at the end of that grass strip on a summer's day, any aircraft at all that can facilitate that is good to me. That's why I fly and the myriad reasons that other people fly are absolutely fine too.