• MSNBC, Thursday, July 8, 2010 10:41 AM

Once upon a time in America, in an era known as the Age of the McMansion, consumers filled their not-so-humble abodes and land masses with all sorts of goods and products, from supersized containers of soda pop to massive pieces of exercise equipment to automobiles that could accommodate home theaters in the rear cabin.

Now, Jane Hodges informs us, we have entered a new epoch where young people are fleeing the 'burbs of their youth to establish affordable urban homes of their own that average out to about 500 square feet. "For Gen Y, the home is a place to live out of, not to live in," says John McIlwain, a senior fellow for housing at The Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. "They don't think of this as a sacrifice. It's just their lifestyle."

And it's not just our children (but yay for them!). "The mix of buyers isn't skewed as young as you'd think," according to San Francisco broker Jim Hurley. Many buyers want second homes, he says, or have a job in the city and a home elsewhere.

In any event, there are implications for those of us who sell things of a material nature. To wit, how many tchotchkes and cans of low-sodium soup can you squeeze into an apartment the size of the average exurban foyer? As for transportation, trains and buses, car-sharing, and putting one foot in front of the other are back in vogue.

Read the whole story at MSNBC »