be wrote in message ...
Andy wrote:
Fact: 30 years ago the average new home was substantially smaller
than the average new home today.

Fact: The average number of people per household has declined during
that period.

I have a hunch that as the average size of home (interior square
footage) has gone up (if this is true), I certianly have seen a trend
for less and less exterior space that come with these homes. The outdoor
yard space has been shrinking. There is an increasing trend for homes in
Multi-unit complexes (townhomes, condo's). And even for new detatched
houses, it appears that the average is for less and less outdoor space
as the indoor space increase. It appears that americans or american
homebuilders (on average) are sacrificing outdoor space for the indoor
space.

A good example: A few years ago my family sold my childhood home,
along with the two homes next to it. There are now at least *15*
homes. I am not sure of the exact SF, but they're at least 2000 SF
each. One of the original homes used to be a grand old place (built c.
1900), and it's now dwarfed by the others. The yards have about just
enough space for a swingset in the back, but barely. The front
wouldn't even hold a tree. Not unusual in a city, but this is in the
suburbs.