I think this is often overlooked. In decades past single room occupancy housing was far more common. However they were seen as a blight to the city since it wa

I think this is often overlooked. In decades past single room occupancy housing was far more common. However they were seen as a blight to the city since it was mostly occupied by drug addicts and the poor. So cities and neighborhoods didn't complain once real estate started to take off and they began to be converted into more lucrative forms of housing. Eliminating the cheapest of the cheap eliminated the lesser of two evils.