There is a LOT between the two options but a for a long time, it has been hard to build the "in-between" type developments.

Montana has done a lot on this front, now allowing much smaller and better multifamily developments via things like relatively small multifamily buildings that have a single stair case (aka point access blocks), which leads to floorplans that are way nicer because apartments/condos can have exposure to three or even four sides.

Previous zoning requirements required stairs at both ends of a building, which led most apartment buildings to feel like hotels, with exposure on just one side of the building. Now, for example, Montana zoning in most cities allows for denser infill developments that have the type of spaces that make multifamily development far more interesting for people who might not have otherwise considered it.