&gt; Or people without large families choose bigger houses rather than perfectly acceptable ones that two generations ago couples with 7 kids would fit in.<p>I think about this myself. I have a house that&#x27;s probably three times the size I need. But I bought it because it got me into a nicer neighborhood. All of the affordable, two-bedroom houses are always in really seedy neighborhoods where cars are always broken into, the cops are always being called out to, etc.