This is an interesting discussion. Many Canadians do want to own a single family fully detached home with a yard. But why. Perhaps this is in part because of a desire for a place of both  privacy and greenery in our lives. But perhaps it is also because of a preconception that only the fully detached home with a yard can meet that desire. If we look to more densely populated regions of the world that were built before the advent of the automobile, we may see many healthy communities that have found a multitude of ways to live in an urban environment with personal access to private natural or green space without resorting to the single family fully detached home with a yard. Canadian apartments and condo towers have perhaps captured the needs both of childless young urbanites and of the elderly who no longer want to mow the lawn. But they do not yet capture the needs of families with children. This does not mean it cannot be done. A little bit of architecture could go a long way.