Apartments are better than Houses

Reading over his argument, he seems to have one major contention that I need to refute. R1: Apartments have better spacingMy opponent contends that apartments will create a society that is:a) positive and healthyb) highly urbanized and efficient a) When there is a heavy concentration of people in an area, it breeds dispute, dislike, and disease. My opponent says it's healthy to live in close quarters with other people rather than safely separated in your own dwelling. This is not only untrue, but the exact opposite is the case[1]. When you live in an apartment, your business becomes everyone's business, and everyone's business becomes your business. It's like living with your family except these people are not related to you and probably are just as annoyed with you as you are with them. Cramped spaces and lack of privacy are in no way a breeding ground for a positive and healthy community. b) While I don't necessarily dispute that apartments are urban, I don't see why an increase in urbanization is good when it comes to housing. My opponent then speaks of the efficiency of apartments. However, do we really what this kind of space "efficiency". If being efficient was really that important, why not have everyone live inside of barracks, one family to a room like in many third world countries[2]. The answer is obvious, people don't like being crammed together. There is a reason houses are so popular and that "suburban sprawl" isn't the name of some foreign dessert. Lastly, in America, there is still plenty of space left for housing. In the last 250 years of our country, we have only developed 5.2% of our land [3]. Clearly, we still have plenty of space to go. C1: PrivacyHouses offer a privacy that apartment owners can only dream of obtaining. When you own a house, you can decorate as you please, listen to music as loudly as you want, and not have to be aware when the neighbors are having a drug deal. Apartments can in no way top houses in the privacy arena. When you live in a house, you have a home, not some room that you're renting from a landlord. What's the point of living somewhere if that space doesn't actually belong to you? C2: SafetySituation: FireIn an apartment, you freak out and try and go down the stairs (because you're not one of the lucky ones with a fire escape) but there's smoking coming up the hallway. You're trapped because you live in a glorified barracks that stacks people on top of each other like pancakes. In a house, your smoke alarm wakes you up and you calmly grab a few belongings and head out the door. Even if the stairway is blocked, you can easily step out a window and be fine. The firemen arrive and put out the fire quickly because you have a small, single-person dwelling rather than a concentrated monolith. Situation: ShooterIn an apartment, you're screwed. You have to stay in your room and hope for the best. In a house, the shooter would be in the street and you are easily safe within you're own little dwelling. C3: Positive for FamilyI don't know how many of you have children, but as a child, I can say that we really hate enclosed spaces. With that said, I can also say that if we are cramped we're sure to take it out on each other and the parents. Having lived in both apartments and houses, I can tell you that a little more space can make a lot of difference. Going from sharing a room with my brother to being separated by a hallway has made our confrontations less frequent and improved our relationship. Space and privacy (to a certain extent) are needed for both children and parents to live a happy life. ConclusionApartments are unhealthy and cramped while houses give the owner freedom and happiness. Houses provide safety, privacy, and a good family environment that apartments simply cannot match. [1] . http://books.google.com...;[2] . http://www.grist.org...;[3] . http://www.heritage.org...;