I'm guessing I'm the exception, but I actually prefer downhill putts versus having to guess as to the pace/speed from a longer distance.
Of course, it usually comes down to the speed of the greens where one plays mostly. The greens at my club are usually pretty quick, but here's the interesting thing... that old rule-of-thumb about putts breaking more when the greens are quicker - it doesn't necessarily hold true at my club, because of the direction of the grain on many of our normal hole locations. I've found that putts actually break a lot more there when they're slow.
That said, one of my favorite courses around is a private club called Moselem Springs.... it's a Fazio design and they hosted the 1964 Women's US Open. You do not want to be above the hole there, as the greens are incredibly difficult with a lot of intersecting slopes and not to mention most of them slope back-to-front. And the rough there is most always pretty gnarly, especially around the greens, where the ball just seems to nestle down to the bottom. There are very few relatively straight-forward chip/pitch shots there, even from below the hole.
But it's a wonderful classic-style layout that demands my best golf to simply play to within 3-4 strokes of my handicap. All but maybe 2 or 3 of the greens are elevated, making it play 1-2 clubs longer on the approach shots.
It's a gem of a layout, lucky to be able to play there once or twice per season.
