How the Rise of the McMansion Is Coming Back to Bite Us

The traditional American way is to build big, but more potential homebuyers are now interested in affordable alternatives. But what has builders in a bind is that the demand for smaller, lower cost housing is at odds with the mansions of the past. Lack of lots, restrictive zoning laws, and soaring construction prices are all guiding builders toward continuing the practice of bigger is better. As the cry for affordable homes grows stronger, local governments and builders may have to rework old practices and policies to bridge the inventory gap and provide what an increasing amount of Americans want: smaller, denser, and walkable neighborhoods. 

Shortly after Chicagoans Stephanie Arias and Miguel Aguila were married, their thoughts turned to getting a place of their own. Both 28-year-old, first-generation Mexican-Americans who tied the knot in July 2018, they had been living with their respective parents and saving money for a down payment. They decided to focus their search on Humboldt Park, a historically Puerto Rican—and now rapidly gentrifying—neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side where Arias’s family lives.

They weren’t prepared for the sticker shock. Centered on a vast green space that gives the neighborhood its name, Humboldt Park has changed significantly over the past decade as traditional three-flat apartment buildings and brick bungalows make way for condo projects and modern single-family homes. The recently opened 606 linear park has only accelerated the shift: Zillow projects that average home values will hit $316,000 by 2021, twice the average home price in 2012.

“We started looking, and it was impossible to find a home in our price range,” Arias says. “And many of the homes here were full-on, with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, and I don’t think we’d ever need something that big. They build these beautiful homes, but they’re not for us.”

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