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if your webserver is running under phpsuexec and is configured properly by the host, you should be able to use chmod 755 on all the folders that need write access (templates_c, uploads, cache & any folders in modules that need it).
I run my website with chmod 755 without problems because the scripts write to those folders using the assigned group/user id's for the account instead of running as user: nobody. in short, there's many things a web host can do to improve security for itself & it's clients.