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people, believe it or not, like having a backyard for their kids to play in.
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Is that really so, though? Calgarians always say they need to move to the suburbs so they can have a yard for their kids, but how many Calgary backyards are actually large enough to accomodate childs' play? Where I grew up in the Maritimes, you actually could make the argument that suburban backyards gave kids and teenagers a place to play. My parents' yard was large enough to play soccer or even baseball in, and we lived in a modest, middle-class home similiar to thousands of others in the area.
Photo evidence:
This is a Google Maps satellite view of a typical suburban neighbourhood in South Calgary. The houses are packed as tightly together as sardines in a can, and none of them have a backyard sizable enough for kids to play in:
For comparison, this is the street I grew up on in the suburbs of Saint John, New Brunswick:
Of course, that latter picture shows a very inefficient use of space, and zoning residential properties that size wouldn't be sustainable in a city with Calgary's population. My point though, is that the argument that a single family detached home in the suburbs is necessary so "the kids have a backyard to play in" is a complete red herring.