I’ve heard it said that Americans purchase based on the maximal use case as opposed to the typical use case. As an American, that description makes so much sense. As an example, I live in an area where there are a lot of hills and it snows rarely, but just about everyone who can afford a 4WD SUV has one. Heaven forbid they can’t drive around on those 1-2 days a year that it snows! Meanwhile, they get shitty gas mileage driving to work the other 300-odd days of the year.
The maximal use case! That’s a good way of thinking about it!
I’m struggling with my SO to buy a reasonable house in a high cost of living area. They want a massive 2000 Sq ft monstrosity because we plan to have a kid soon, and I’m thinking 1500 is more than enough. They’re reasoning it’s we need space for each other and entertaining. My reasoning is I want to eat out at the nearby fantastic restaurants nearby more often and buy cheese and wine and stuff.
I had to use a unit converter, but I’ve lived in places housing up to seven people that weren’t that big. Comfortably.
This is a conversation I had here recently as well when I pointed out to a car thread that for the money Americans pay for pickup trucks you can also buy a hatchback and a proper van, cover most use cases and not drive a tank to take kids to school. They did NOT like that.
Hatchbacks and vans are enclosed and not fun to haul stinky stuff and aren’t conducive to hosing out after.
The main problem in the US is companies not making Coupe utility sized vehicles like the Subaru Brat or the El Camino. Small and light vehicles with beds. I would love a small AWD electric or hybrid truck that size that has good mileage for commuting and just enough convenience for moving cumbersome and stinky things around. The Ford Maverick is a move in the right direction, but is almost a midsized truck instead of going full on compact.
The more walkable the location of the house, the less space you need because that space is outside your house.
I mean… it depends on what you mean, I guess? Even if I hadn’t spent the pandemic lockdowns comfortably holed up in a small apartment, it’s worth noting that big-ass houses typically have yards while small apartments do not.
I guess if you mean “having shops, bars and restaurants within walking distance” that can maybe work, but otherwise that doesn’t seem to track.
US cities are rapidly running out of 3rd places. There’s almost no neighborhood commercial centers with a cafe and a pub/bar that you can visit for extended periods of time.
The net result is that the home and the workplace are the primary locations we can spend time in.
We have two kids in a 3 bed/2 bath 1350 sq ft home. We do have a full basement, but the kids aren’t really allowed down there (power tools, toy stash, etc). I guess I do hang out there some nights, but that’s only because my gaming computer moved downstairs years ago when our oldest started to be able to reach the keyboard and pull key caps off it.
In our experience, you’re probably not going to do a lot of entertaining while you have young kids. While one of your kids is under 3-4, and sometimes older, they’re going to need naps. They’re also going to have early bedtimes. Naps are mostly behind us, and we do have afternoon play dates, but the kids don’t really care what space they’re in as long as they’re engaged and have things to do. Having an adult gathering is… very rare. We have a nice sized yard, so we tend to have gatherings outside.
I don’t think we need extra bedrooms or bigger bedrooms/bathrooms. An office might be nice, but working from the basement works just as well. A toy room could be nice, but to me it would be wasted space as the kids get older and have fewer, but larger/more engaging, toys. At least around here, the extra room comes with extra walls that result in a space that’s not often used (think a formal dining room).
There’s also the financial side of things. We could afford a larger house, but would rather be putting any extra into 529s, our own 401ks, etc. Kid related expenses really add up before you start also thinking about a bigger mortgage payment.
Ok. We raised 4 kids in an 1800 sq foot house with one bathroom. I do not recommend the one bathroom, but the space was more than adequate.
Having said that, it does make a difference, we have the same size house now and only 2 kids left at home, but this house has a bigger main kitchen/dining area, smaller bedrooms, a separate living room for the kids, an enormous back porch/deck adding to the useable space and entertaining space is really helpful more than I had imagined.
1500 arranged right with small bedrooms and enough common area, and at least 2 bathrooms sure. It’s not a small house, that’s a medium size house. With an enormous porch? Hell yeah. We used to live in one of those with two other couples, it was fine. But I do think you are undercounting the value of common space.
On cars I agree wholeheartedly. It’s way too expensive to maintain that capacity. We rent a minivan to travel but buy small car for daily use.
House I am not convinced, the value proposition is different. It really is nice to have a little extra space. Not some monstrous McMansion, but not cozy, and space for the kids to have their gaming computer stuff not inside their bedroom and my home office stuff not inside my bedroom. And moving is a pain in the ass and expensive, absolutely don’t want to have to scale up if the family gets bigger.
It’s the issue of “but sometimes”. People want to use a worse solution because the better solution has an issue that happens only rarely.
