Worked for the Soviets.
Asthetic, appropriate density is preferable to the kind of "Developer, do whatever the fuck you want" density that is currently destroying Ballard's historic character. The tenements that are being built in Ballard right now destroy the streetscape, the light, the architecture, and the overall feel of the place. There are ways to built multi unit structures that don't, but the concept that you can have density, quality, and historical continuity might be a little too complex for some of the posters here.
Or the kind of "density" that built a 1.2 million dollar McMansion econobox on my street full of old craftsman homes. Fortunately, it's been on the market now for nearly a year and a half. Even better; the graffiti artists have discovered it.