The United States is facing a housing crisis:Affordable housing is inadequate,while luxury homes abound(充裕),and homelessness remains a persistent problem.Despite this, popular culture and the housing industry market happiness as living with both more space and more amenities(便利设施).Big houses are adverted as a reward for hard work and diligence,turning housing from a basic necessity into a luxury.

This is reflected in our homes.The average single-family home built in the United States before 1970 was less than 1,500 square feet in size.By 2016,the average size of a new,single-family home was 2,422 square feet.What's more,homes built in the 2000s were more likely than earlier models to have more of all types of spaces:bedrooms, bathrooms,living rooms,dining rooms,recreation rooms and garages.

There are consequences of living big.As middle-class houses have grown larger,two things have happened.First,large houses take time to maintain,so cleaners and other low-wage service workers are required to keep these houses in order.Second,once-public spaces,where people from diverse backgrounds used to come together,have increasingly become privatized,leading to a reduction in the number of public facilities available to all, and a reduced quality of life for many.Take swimming pools.While in 1950,only 2,500 U.S.families owned pools,by 1999 this number was 4 million.At the same time,public municipal pools were often closed,leaving low-income people nowhere to swim.

The trend for bigger housing thus poses ethical questions.Should Americans accept a system in which the middle and upper classes enjoy a luxurious lifestyle,using the low-wage labor of others?Are we willing to accept a system in which an increase in amenities purchased by the affluent means a reduction in amenities for the poor?

I believe neither is acceptable.We must change the way we think:living well does not need to mean having more private spaces;instead,it could mean having more public spaces. A better goal than building bigger houses for some is to create more publicly accessible spaces and amenities for all.