Having roommates in your 30s isn't that weird in LA, SF, and NYC.

>Having roommates in your 30s isn't that weird in LA, SF, and NYC.

Agreed, but I think it's weird that that isn't weird. Our parents' generation were able to buy a home, save for retirement, and raise a family on one person's income. Now we sign over half our monthly income to a landlord, and spend the rest on Avocado Toast.

My generation is probably the same as your parents, and even then there certainly weren't many one-income homes doing those things in NYC, SF, or LA. Also, I would say that this generation has gotten used to larger homes and more luxury (e.g., lots of bathrooms). These things simply weren't as normal thirty years ago. (It's the same with cars, which are all bigger and have more luxuries than cars of thirty years ago. Just compare a current Honda Civic with a Civic of 1987.)

The sort of lifestyle you describe is still easily available to two-income families, at least, (maybe one-and-a-half) in most mid-sized cities even in many larger cities. Those cities are mostly great for raising a family. For a single person, often not so much.

So I hear you want to talk about zoning...

roommates are normal at any age including 40s and 50s

At that age peoples' roommates are usually their spouse and their children. If they need to have roommates in addition to those, that is a big problem because with current trends it won't take much discouragement from having children to result in a declining population.

Especially if you are poor. People making $150k/yr in the bay area are actually pretty poor, compared to the cost of living.