Living space is just one dimension, the value of which varies for people. Other dimensions include light, noise, and proximity to amenities and jobs -- and the

Living space is just one dimension, the value of which varies for people. Other dimensions include light, noise, and proximity to amenities and jobs -- and the last factor is by the far the most important for most people. Why is proximity to amenities and jobs so important? Many people spend hours of their lives driving themselves from home to work, the grocery store, really anywhere of interest and back. Driving is such a strong requirement we rarely revoke drivers licenses, even when drivers kill others through their negligence. Driving is expensive (costs thousands per year), dangerous (drivers kill 30,000 people a year), and leads to a sedentary lifestyle that is bad for your health. The quality of life impacts are massive. From personal experience: living and working in San Francisco I would easily hit 10,000 steps per day just going about my daily life. When visiting the car-dependent suburb I grew up in for the holidays, that dropped to almost zero. It's no wonder obesity rates, life expectancy, and therefore quality of life is lower in these areas. Only the wealthy with the money and time to spend on exercise (in addition to the extra transportation costs) are able to mitigate these deleterious harms. Car breakdown? You are literally unable to do anything, and incur massive costs in emergency repairs in addition to possibly losing your job. The poor are more likely to defer maintenance and buy older vehicles, so they are likely to fall into a vicious cycle of payday loans due to a something like this.