Shh, don't spoil Ridgewood! When people find out they can get a whole house with a yard for the price they pay for a room in Williamsburg we'll get overrun.
No one paying for a room in Williamsburg (or most of the other high costs neighborhoods) wants a "full house and a yard". I really don't understand the American obsession with huge living spaces. Just increases the amount you have to clean, and the amount of junk you're liable to fill it with.
The best argument is for kids, but for me and many (most) of my peers at least, that's the last thing we want. I'd also argue that raising children in the South/MidWest does them a great disservice in terms of cut potential in education and career prospects but that's neither here nor there.
The space is more about supporting a variety of hobbies that require space and/or the space is available at minimal cost likely both in time & money.
With my tech friends, they seem to be able to live ridiculously minimally as their life outside of the essentials fits into a laptop/desktop. My non-tech friends are less so.
Some activities that like having more space are as follows. Sure, most on this list are available via affordable to semi-luxurious subscriptions and/or coops or definitely can be done in a small space, yet having a personal version of it or additional space offers a decent QoL improvement in the form of time saved, or simply not having to share space/equipment with family/strangers.
- Gym Equipments (powerrack, barbells, etc)
- Sauna
- Gardening
- Music (neighbors don't complain about your noise)
- Crafts
- Wood/Metal working
- Cooking/Baking
- Pets
- Art Studio (ceramics, painting, drawing, etc)
- Automotive
A bunch of these tend to also be activities/skills that some people derive a large part of their identity & happiness from, thus giving that up for living in a small space sounds like a preposterous suggestion to them.
