Your preferred type of housing

After I read plenty of real estate magazines and new-houses-related publications, I was wondering what kind of housing do UTers prefer.

Please pick your preferred housing type and post your choice, your current type of housing you reside in and if any elaboration is included, that would be great!

I'll start with mine. I dwell in high-rise condo (24 floors). And I love high-rise, high density residences.

The expansive southerly views, spacious (for family of four), close proximity to SQ1 and two nearby malls (I live around there), availability of transit choices and most of all, reasonable cost. The downside of the condo is privacy issues, mediocre condo management, and lack of in-residence amenities.

I've lived in all of these different types, except for mid-rise apartments.

the family of the future will live in a townhouse with a small garden, which is somehow situated under a small number of apartments.

Low rise low density for me. For half the year - May until October - the Summer Palace's back garden transforms into an outdoor room for dining in, for lounging in, for growing produce and cut flowers for the house in, and occasionally for entertaining in. And sitting out front, watching the world peregrinate along the leafy avenue, is a fine weather entertainment as old as the city itself. The shared laneway at the end of our back gardens is where the annual potluck party happens in June, should neighbours wish to join in. The anual street sale is where we sell the stuff that we bought at the street sale the previous year, to someone else. We make jam, we swap plants, we chatter endlessly about this and that - it is madness, sheer madness. And the Don Valley keeps the downtown at a psychological distance from us, while we disport ourselves on the sunny uplands of deepest Riverdale.

Tough choice, but I chose medium density. I love height and skyscrapers, but my favourite built up urban areas to be in are lined with nicely scaled mid-rises. I hate elevators too, so less time spent in one is nice. My ideal abode would be in the upper floors (10-15) with a terraced patio, one big enough to have a barbecue and ample seating for entertaining.

Though I do live in an old rowhouse right now and love it, mostly for the architecture, there are a lot of upkeep related headaches with the age. I'd never want to lose anymore of our older housing stock though, so I'm glad this generation is cherishing and maintaining our history more than ever.

Other--Knaus RV. I prefer the smaller sleeker(and easier to park etc) Knaus V-liner, but the S-liner, like a modern house on wheels, is true luxury:

[video=youtube;mUmzFgPC5cg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUmzFgPC5cg&feature=related[/video]

If I'm going to own a dweling, I'd like to own the land it's on as well. So house it is.

Freehold townhouse because it has most the benefits of a regular detached house (ability to garden/landscape, space, privacy), but still more affordable and higher density. Not only more affordable than detach and semi detached, but also more affordable than regular townhouses as well, because of the lack of the maintenance fees. Too bad there doesn't seem to be a lot of freehold townhouses in GTA.

I personally don't like high-rise apartment. Not only is there trouble with annoying tenants, but high-rises themselves are probably unsustainable. I think their value will decline significantly, so a bad investment. High density in the form of elevator-free low-rises and mid-rises is the wave of the future, imo. When energy cost increase, elevators will be a thing of the past.

We'll have to revert to the good ol' days of manual labour. Dedicated teams of professional pulley operators will ensure constant elevator service in an energy weary future.

http://fatknowledge.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-much-energy-does-elevator-use.html

Refrigerators will have to go long before we are forced to give up elevators. The real concern with our high-rises is poor insulation with the glass exterior.

I chose high-rise/high density but I also like medium rise/medium density - I've lived in both and both make sense in this city, where appropriate. High-rise gets the edge for me because I love city and/or lake views that some mid-rises don't offer.