I don't know that townhomes really satisfy that -- not any of the ones I've seen built recently. The ones I'm thinking of are those 10-to-a-lot townhomes that g

I don't know that townhomes really satisfy that -- not any of the ones I've seen built recently. The ones I'm thinking of are those 10-to-a-lot townhomes that get squeezed into previously unused spaces or a handful of parcels that the developer managed to buy up next to each other. They usually have little to no land (no front yard and a meager backyard), restricted parking (I have seen two-car garages where you would need to go out through the sunroof if you actually parked two small cars in there.) and are often built as cheaply as possible at the lowest cost. Basically, a lot of the townhomes that I see being built here are effectively apartments and share many of the same annoyances you mentioned. With that said, it could very well be due to the same single family zoning issues -- it's very possible that getting permits for an apartment building in a predominantly SFH zone would be difficult. Getting permits for townhomes (which end up functionally apartments) is likely far more doable. To the question you pose about the SFH replacement -- I don't think that there is one. Even if homes weren't an investment vehicle, I think to a lot of people the appeal of a SFH is the whole package; By the time you satisfy all the desires with something else, you've arrived back to a SFH.