I might still be apartment living in Saskatoon if there had been high density housing that met my needs.

Close enough to the river that going for a walk was more about walking along the river than getting there and back.

A reasonably safe place to keep a canoe or something close to the river.

Enough public toilets with hours of operation to support things like going fishing (or walking or running or canoeing or snowshoeing) at sunrise and sunset or even in the dark for stargazing.

On site or nearby shared shop space so I could maybe build a chair or a chest of drawers or a jewelry box. Or a canoe, even!

As long as the focus is on the lowest common denominator or, worse, basically warehousing people, high density housing will always be an uphill battle.