Also remember that housing quality is improving. Houses built today have better materials, better appliances, more rooms, more space, and better layouts now than they did 20 or 30 years ago.
My grandparents raised their 4 children in an old 1300 SF home.
Living in 1300sqft, here. Two kids, two dogs, wife, & self. House built in 1959. We have "all the modern conveniences," though.
We made a choice to live in a more centrally-located neighborhood (Richardson, TX, Arapaho HOA) in a small house with a small yard. The other choice was living way out in BFE (N of McKinney, TX) and driving 1-2 hours/day to work & back for an extra 700-1000sqft.
The neighborhood is still good, though it is a constant battle. The main opponent being the illegals and their behaviors. It has come down to fighting off their depredations and chaos long enough for the nasty apartments most live in to be worth it to McMansion builders to buy, bulldoze & build McMansions. That is turning out to be a Godsend, as the bulldozing removes habitat, reduces crime, and reduces property tax burdens as their illegal kids and anchor babies no longer live in the district.
The other problem is the illegal alien bunkhouses. Those pop up in the neighborhood and have to be treated like fire ant mounds or they'll get over on you, spread, and make the nearby areas dangerous.
