[RockinRight]

To see what I’m talking about, consider where I am at the moment: in a pleasant, middle-class neighborhood consisting mainly of four- or five-story apartment buildings, with easy access to public transit and plenty of local shopping.

Apartments? As in, nobody owns their home? Doesn't sound middle class the way I know it.

[kkalman]

Most families own their “apartments”.
We call them condominiums over here.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Apartments? As in, nobody owns their home? Doesn't sound middle class the way I know it.

"Apartment" is European for "condominium" - Krugman is being condescending. They are owned, it's just that Europe never had the fetish that Americans have for bringing the farm to town with them in the form of a lawn, so living in higher buildings was always an acceptable and even desired aspect of city living.