As someone who lived in cities with pretty big variations of sprawl (ranging from Dallas to downtown Tokyo), I feel like density is positively correlated with ease of living.
This obviously depends on your priorities, but being able to walk to the grocery store is a nice experience. I don't have a garden right now, but the public greenery I have access to are usually nicer-kept and I can do 80% of the things I would do in my yard anyways (picnics and the like).
The utility of density is very dependent on lifestyle, obviously, but if you haven't tried spending some time in a really dense area, I'd recommend it. You might find that you won't miss the things you thought you would.
This obviously depends on your priorities, but being able to walk to the grocery store is a nice experience. I don't have a garden right now, but the public greenery I have access to are usually nicer-kept and I can do 80% of the things I would do in my yard anyways (picnics and the like).
The utility of density is very dependent on lifestyle, obviously, but if you haven't tried spending some time in a really dense area, I'd recommend it. You might find that you won't miss the things you thought you would.