McMansions Downsized

Mikaela says:
Unfortunately, one of the places to look for recent trends affecting planning is the Real Estate section of the NY Times. Sunday's Times features an article asking the question, "Are McMansions Going Out of Style?"

"McMansion" is the cute term given to monstrous houses usually built at the urban fringe for upscale homeowners who still have pretensions of a country estate. These houses, as the name implies, are as big as they can be for the smallest price. Construction is often shoddy, and it remains to be seen what the real lifespan of the structures actually is.

Now it seems that even the taste of the wealthy is turning away from such cheap and unhealthy (for our cities) fare.

In 1970, the average house size was 1,500 sq. ft. -- still roomy compared to accomodations in the rest of the world. By 2001, the average size was 2,100.

Here's the best quote from the article (note the source on this one!):
"Sandy Kennedy, a real estate agent, said the house she and her husband, John, are building in Cheshire, Conn., will be around 3,500 square feet, which is larger than the national average but smaller than many homes in the area. 'We could afford more, but we want to limit ourselves to spaces we'll really use,' she said."

Oh how economical of her! How downright conservative! What an ecologist!

Are you kidding me? Who really uses 3,500 square feet anyway? Use it for what, an art museum? A community center? I bet you anything this couple doesn't even have CHILDREN.

The article talks glowingly about the leveling off of the growth in house sizes, but if 3,500 is the representative example, we're all still in a heap of trouble. What are rich people choosing instead? Amenities and exotic wood! Lord help us all.