Seattle Bubble Forum Archive

My name is Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht.

I think the following supports what RCC is saying. I believe we Americans sometimes forget that we enjoy a very high standard of living with respect to much of the rest of the world:



A single family house in the US in 1973 was 1660 square feet on average

A single family house in the US in 2007 was 2520 square feet on average.


- A 1997 article

The Namgay family of Shinka, Bhutan: 13 people (father, mother, four children, one son-in-law, five grandchildren and an uncle), 726 square feet. That counts just the living space on the second floor, which sits above a barn for the animals.

The Abdulla family of Kuwait City, Kuwait: 8 people (father, mother, four children, two servants), 4850 square feet. This family also owns four cars and a 45-foot-long sofa.

The Costa family of Havana, Cuba: 9 people (father, mother, two children, their spouses, three grandchildren), 1400 square feet. Each of the three families has a separate living space within this area with its own TV, radio and stove.

The Natomo family of Kouakourou, Mali: 11 people (father, two wives, eight children), 990 square feet. The wives live in separate houses, but do most cooking and childcare together.

The Regzen family of Ulaanbaator, Mongolia: 6 people (father, mother, two children, father's sister and her child), 200 square feet. This house is a one-room yurt, called a ger in Mongolian, with electricity and a big TV set.

The Delfoart family of Maissade, Haiti: 6 people (father, mother, two children, a nephew and a niece), 325 square feet. That doesn't count a small separate cooking hut and a storage shed. There is no electricity or running water. Much household activity takes place outside in the courtyard.

The Zaks family of Tel Aviv, Israel: 4 people (father, mother, two children), 667 square feet. A three room flat on the fourth floor of a modern apartment building.

The Khuenkaew family of Ban Muang Wa, Thailand: 5 people (father, mother, two children, mother's brother), 728 square feet. This farm family owns a motor scooter and a TV, but no car.

The Wu family of Shiping, Yunan, China: 9 people (father, mother, two sons and their wives, three grandchildren), 600 square feet. No car, but a bicycle and a boat for harvesting water hyacinth from a nearby lake to feed the pigs.

The Calabay Sicay family of San Antonio de Palopo, Guatemala: 5 people (father, mother, three children), 216 square feet. The main item of furniture in this one-room house is a large loom with which the father makes his living hand-weaving.

The Ukita family of Tokyo, Japan: 4 people (father, mother, two children), 1420 square feet. This home contains three radios, one TV, one VCR, a microwave oven, a computer, and an electrically heated toilet seat (because electricity is expensive and it's cheaper to heat the seat than the whole house). Outside sit three bicycles and a Toyota minivan.

The Kalnazarov family of Tashkent, Uzbekistan: 8 people (father, mother, six children), a heated 600 square foot winter house and an unheated 1000 square foot summer house, plus a separate kitchen building and a barn for the animals. This family owns only one bed and four chairs, but its picture is one of the most colorful in the calendar, because of the many brilliant handmade carpets and quilts spread out on the snow.