I live in the suburbs and I think it's more dangerous then downtown. The main problem in the
'burbs is speed, most people just drive too fast. You just have to choose your route more carefully. The good thing is that I have a lot of choices as to which roads I can take and there are a lot of quieter roads with less and slower traffic. Also there are few MUP's and some of them are dirt and gravel so it's a nice thing to go offroad sometimes and enjoy the nature. The main thing about riding in the 'burbs is you have to know how to link your route together. I do a lot of long distance rides through the 'burbs 100++km's long, but I know how to link all the streets,mups,roads together to make it a fun long distance ride. Then again cycling will never be 100% safe no matter where you ride.