I'm actually torn because in Brazil almost everyone that can would choose to live in a condo, due to security. The downside is that you need to follow a bunch of rules and get much less square m2, and likely worse locations... but you get into some kind of "social network" (depending on the house price) and your kid can walk to the neighbors by himself.
A small (not tiny) apartment with a tiny (that yes) garden/outdoor space in Tokyo. Murakami describes something similar in “The Wind Up Bird Chronicle” [0]. I want a small kitchen corner and a spacious and luminous living room for reading and listening to music. As minimal as possible.
I love how this response started with a very pragmatic checklist and then quickly turned to some very specific and personal wishes. What would you be doing with that forklift and/or pallet jack now that the house was paid off?
[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11275.The_Wind_Up_Bird_C...
It would have a separate machine shop with 3 phase power and a floor thick enough for a forklift or pallet jack.
But in Hudson Valley New York instead of Newcastle Australia.