> An affordable alternative... for single people without families. You can perform most of the basic functions of life, but reproduction is a major one, too.
For what it's worth I've lived a very happy life as a kid in a 2-room apartment, in about 70 sqm. Granted, I used to spend most of my time in front of our apartments' block, playing with other kids. If it matters I grew up in Eastern Europe.
What I wanted to say is that resorting to "but would someone think of the children?" in this kind of situation in order to mask the harm done on the environment because of McMansions and huge houses in general is the wrong way to do it.