As we moved into the industrial age families moved to single-family homes. They bought a car, had a party line phone, the kids took a bus to school, Mom stayed home and they lived on a single income. They worked hard to afford a single family home.
After the social revolution of the 60’s Woman got educated and they wanted to work and be independent. Suburbia was created. They needed two cars to get to work; they pay other people to take care of the kids. They worked hard to live on a dual income, but they could afford so much more and the standard of living improved.
The computer age has arrived. People are living longer, working longer. Part of the education is to manage the information overflow. School has become the dominant focus of the kid’s lives, school sports, school clubs, and homework. The kids need phones to stay in contact with their parents (who will pick them up and where). Although talking is an out of date communication style. Texting, bloging one-way communications are preferred. For the first time in American history single people out number married people and they all need a home big enough to accommodate his, hers, and our children when they visit on the week ends. They work hard to afford what they have.
There is fierce completion for housing and the high paying jobs are needed to afford them. The standard of living is greater then it was for royalty 100 years ago. But many people can’t keep up and they are having kids living with their parent who help with the kids. They pool their money together to afford the multi generation family home. They work hard to afford a multi generational family home.
My theory is the housing we have is the housing we need to accommodate social changes in our population. The Rec rm is replaced with an office. Kitchens are built with appliance garages. If it is not a 5 piece master suit, it needs to be remodeled.
Comments(1)