I've lived in apartments most of my life and I actually like it. The key is doing a thorough search to find a good complex with good management in a quiet area. You'll always have 'those people' in any neighborhood, home or apartment, so you just have to put up with it. But if you do your research well, apartment communities are really nice.

The place we live now is a very nice 2 bdrm 1.5 bath with good space. The complex is really nice and typically quiet, and the biggest problem here is parking...but we don't drive so NP for us. It's also an animal friendly place. The manager when we moved in really liked reptiles, so we didn't get charged at all, but then the manager changed to a woman who is VERY afraid of snakes and she made us pay the $300 deposit (only half of which is refunded). Sigh, oh well.
Sad thing is, we're moving in a week and a half. We like it here, but you do what you have to do. But guaranteed, we'll be doing a thorough search for a good complex once we get settled up north.