My dad escaped his hood, traveled abroad, survived Vietnam and had a 6 figure salary all of childhood, yet raised us kids in the hood during the height of the 80's crack epidemic in DC. We could have been outside the city in the suburbs for the same price. I've seen shit as a kid that I probably should never have seen or been around.
Yet he encouraged me to do well in school and exposed me to a ton of stuff outside our neighborhood. I even got to go to Space Camp in Houston. I really don't think he was trying to do some clever dichotomy shit with my education vs my environment. My parents still live in the same house and I just don't see why that area was ever attractive to them. I don't see myself going back to any distressed areas now that I'm an adult with kids.