[rtpg]

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.