I've lived in both tiny apartments and suburban homes and I can tell you the former is much more desirable. This can be evidenced by the ridiculous housing prices in American cities. Suburban __homes__ are nice but they are surrounded by nothing but other suburban homes. In many cases it's not even possible to leave without a car because the only thing connecting the suburbs to the rest of the world are motorways. After a while living in these conditions take a toll, especially for the stay at home mothers the article describes.