Nepean was a major suburb absorbed into Ottawa by a Mike Harris forced amalgamation.  It had more than a balanced budget. it had a "pay-as-you-go" policy and had surpluses to pay for infrastructure. Single family homes may be more expensive than condos. However some types of cars are more expensive than other types of cars and yet people still choose to buy them for what they regard as superior value. Condos may be cheaper in terms of the infrastructure requirements. However they are still condos and are still just little sky boxes. You get what you pay for.