Spanky, I think your comment about low-end condos vs. condos which are more similar to single family homes is so astute! A few months ago, I escaped from my bargain basement priced condo. It was fine when it was first built twenty years ago. Mostly singles and couples, just a few families with one kid who were saving up for a house. Although it was the lowest priced housing in the area (prices in the late eighties starting about 60K), it seemed like people were there because they wanted the condo lifestyle, not because they couldn't afford anything else. Fast forward twenty years and many of those original owners have moved (to SFH for those who got married or had kids) and the number of rental units increased to be many rentals (some chose to become landlords rather than sell). The people moving in even as owners changed (most recently, a single mother with a 10 year old son and a live-in boyfriend and a mother and sister who moved in with them---five people in a 2 BR condo with 800 square feet. Kinda rednecky---would do best in a SFH but couldn't even afford a 3 BR condo in the complex, which is only $20,000 more).
After having major issues with renters below us (hearing their music, door slamming, parties outside at 2 a.m., domestic violence), we moved to a condo that is the best compromise between condo and SF living: quadraplex ranch condos. One level (yay---no more shlepping groceries up the stairs), a garage (finally!), no neighbors above or below. The next door neighbor has their garage next to our garage, but no other common walls. The neighbors behind share one wall (kitchen and third bedroom area), but there is a good firewall inbetween and the places are well built, so noise is not a problem.
I noticed that many people recommended not living on the bottom floor of a condo, but we lived on top and still heard our neighbors and felt their door below slam. It's still better to live on top and not hear people walking overhead, but some condos still can be noisy even on the second floor.
My first condo was in an elevator building, people above and below, but much less noisy than a smallish garden apartment building.
Although we're only (?!?) 52, we moved into a complex intended for active seniors. It's not restricted to people over a certain age, but it has attracted mostly people in their sixties to eighties, with a few in their forties and fifties. I think it's a great idea in theory for all different people of various socioeconomic backgrounds and ages to live together, but it was getting rough living so closely with twenty to thirty year olds who partied all night, played loud music, and were very inconsiderate in general. I'm not saying my neighbors here are perfect (there's one woman who doesn't pick up after her dog, some neighbors have their "adult" kids visit them and who can be noisy, throw cigarette butts around, but it beats what we came from (lots of discarded beer cans, bubblegum on the stairs, etc.).
Lots of locals are scratching their heads.
