via Max Roser who says “US homes today are 1,000 square feet larger than in 1973 and living space per person has nearly doubled.”
I have trouble understanding the mindset behind the giant McMansions. Once upon a time, my father and his family were refugees who slept in a shed large enough for a king sized bed (cooking and bathroom facilities were elsewhere, heck, he often slept outside, sometimes on a bed he would put on the sidewalk, along with many others). I know that 7 people in a space smaller than a one car garage isn’t suitable but 1,000 sq ft per person? It doesn’t make any sense. And to accommodate this, housing density ends up being low, and people spend little time outside because there aren’t vibrant public spaces. I’d rather live in a cosy home and have walkable streets and public squares myself. Or be in a small cabin with a large yard …
Snippets of random 
Inshallah, at the end of the month we will complete the purchase of a house built a century ago, long before the birth of McMansions. (Of course, we only have 2 kids, so we’re probably still well above the sq ft/person ratio of the original owners.)
Do you remember when a colleague of ours invited a Kenyan friend to visit and the Kenyan friend saw their garage and thought it was their home?
LOL. Yes. I wish I could know their thoughts after realizing it was only the home for the car.