No, these totally are solved problems. What apartments are you living in ? Why is your neighbors smoke entering your house ? In my country, everyone cooks high

No, these totally are solved problems. What apartments are you living in ? Why is your neighbors smoke entering your house ? In my country, everyone cooks highly aromatic food, and even then I can't tell what my neighbors are cooking....let alone smell their vape or cigarettes. Why can you hear pounding bass from our neighbor ? Sound isolation is a solved problem. The thin-walls problem is one I've experienced only after I arrived in the US. Not sure why lack of a yard is a problem at all. What is a yard, except empty green grass ? If it is a communal space to host events, then lots of condo towers have common downstairs areas that can be reserved for free. If it is a garden, then you can easily have patio gardens. Hell, I've seen more gardens in apartments back home (since home cooking is the norm), than I have in yard in the US. If is a backyard, ie. ourdoors private space, then large patios facilitate the exact same outdoors privacy. If it is a playground, then you'll be pleased to know that most apartment complexes in Asia have playgrounds. And guess what? It comes with the community you need to actually form a team to use the playground. It would be one thing if every time I visited the suburbs, if I saw yards being a communal source of activity, happiness and personality that people claim they are. On the contrary, I find that it is miles upon miles on completely empty plots with consistent green grass that has not been stepped on for days. My current apartment in downtown US city has a massive common lounge area and a massive rooftop with a view of the city. We have a large enough patio and I have never heard sounds from my neighbors because it uses bricks rather than dry-wall. (And I live in the THE SPOT for young rich spoiled 20-something). It does everything you get from an SFH, but better. (assuming similar capital investment)