My preference purely City driving you can't go past an Auto, for offroading (hard or soft driving) towing etc. you can't go past the Manual.
In relation to towing, I have never towed a trailer with either type of gearbox in 5th gear, I have always stuck to 4th gear as my top gear, it's just too much of a strain on the gearbox IMO.

I too have been a manual driver for the last 40 odd years and it's only now that I only do city and small hwy trips that I have been converted to an Auto (2016 Honda CRV).
It wasn't until I got back into my old 2003 XS Forester at odd times (daughter owned it for for a few years too) that I felt I really missed the Manual.