You're paying with the commute. Sure I pay the same for my smaller apartment as some people pay for their mortgage but the land near my office is expensive enou

You're paying with the commute. Sure I pay the same for my smaller apartment as some people pay for their mortgage but the land near my office is expensive enough that the only way to make a profit is efficiency in the form of dense construction. The result is I have a 20 minute (round trip) walk from my kitchen to cube where many people have 1.5 hour drive through city traffic plus maintenance/insurance etc. WFH changes that some, if you don't mind driving for groceries/hang-outs then going far out of developed areas for a larger home isn't so bad, although I will say as someone who grew up in a place like that it makes your kids significantly more dependent on you and severely limits their ability to socialize. Some people argue that's a plus and perhaps they're right, many of the most knowledgeable people I know came from similar situations but I'm not convinced it's all positive.