The modern mortgage is a form of debt slavery that one works for they technically can earn financial freedom but in a way you are indebted to a structure that limits your overall freedom which can be a bad thing when you consider the power of compound interest in the future if you can afford to save or offset the cost of the mortgage. The alternative is that it offsets rent although there are other prices to pay for that exchange.
If I could choose between a mortgage or paying rent, I would rather have the mortgage. I hated it in rented accommodation. The house inspections, the rude agents, rent payments increasing, and fear of not getting another contract. I would rather buy a place on a mortgage that is further out of the city that costs much less. There are inconveniences with that as well but I feel it is a better option.
The compromise at this time is a Condo or a duplex it's a partial ownership with fees for maintenance. Ideally a house is cheaper to maintain.
The benefit at this time to a condo or a duplex is you own the content at the same time you have more upside than say a trailer park due to the changing demographics that makes it a viable Airbnb rental and speculative long term investment as older individuals want condos and duplexes after moving from a large house that is hard to maintain as they get older with pensions and face rising property costs. Or a senior community.
Your right though I would rather take the mortgage the money at least is utilized in the most Pareto optimal way outside of buying it outright since you get utility for owning an asset you will use.
The only exception is when a mortgage crisis occurs although one can argue that you can always walk away from it and declare bankruptcy.
In regards to suburbs and outlet areas outside of the main city it is a viable approach in some cases the main concern is transit costs related to driving into the city and the time lost in traffic if your job is located farther out from where you work. High speed transit is the viable solution to that however given the car focused society we live in people will tend to waste a lot of their lives in traffic. And a lot of arguments will be made we don't have the population density for trains yet we spend so much to maintain the road network I do wonder how much is really just lobbying to keep the status quo versus the real cost of implementation and change in the long run although I will digress that is another topic for another day.
Classic transportation economics
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/mortgages-and-rates/thinking-of-buying-a-suburban-home-dont-forget-the-commuting-costs/article29202895/ http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-planning/PlanningPublications/HousingAndTransportCostBurdenReport2015.pdf