Side note: my brother and I were raised in compact sedans. I don’t recall any issues. I get that with more kids, a third row would have been important, but the crossovers most people are buying (including the Forester) don’t have that. Can someone explain this “need space for kids” thing?

For us its width. My Legacy isn't wide enough for three car seats. A Forester is. A third row would be amazing, but Subaru doesn't make such a vehicle and Subaru is basically a requirement for me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Ascent is being built and has 3 rows of seats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Tribeca was the previous version, which they stopped selling in 2014 because of poor sales. I've seen them on the street and they were not attractive.

Yeah, the Tribeca did not look nice at all. Wasn't aware it was a 3 row though.

This new one looks pretty nice, and it confirms what I thought I had heard on the radio the other day about a 3 row Subie. See what the wife thinks...