Does Home Size Affect Togertherness?

Home buyers in Massachusetts visits a construction site for small homes. I took this photo 35 years ago.

   Small houses, like the ones in the photo, are rarely built anymore. Developers construct bigger homes. Profits are greater. And people—well, some people—can afford these larger dwellings.
    House sizes in the nation have doubled during the last four decades. At the same time, family sizes have shrunk.
    Bigger homes with fewer occupants—this trend strikes me as hurtful to family life. Excessive space in a home encourages family members to sequester themselves.
    For several years, I’ve strolled each evening by some large houses. Blue lights used to flicker in several windows per house. These lights originated from personal computers. People were online in separate rooms.
    Those families weren’t hanging out together.
    Nowadays, blue lights don’t flicker in multiple windows. The flickering usually comes from one room—a family room—with a large screen television.
    This change doesn’t mean family members are gathered together watching television. They’re still sequestering themselves in separate rooms. What’s different is that personal computers have given way to smartphones.
    Not everyone lives in oversized homes. Lots of families still reside in modest homes. 
    I suspect that families in modest dwellings are knit tighter than families in large homes.