McMansions

According to this article, the market forces behind large home construction are alive and well. In a process of suburban gentrification, developers purchase older, smaller homes and build "McMansions" in their place.

June 8, 2015 - Bloomberg

Concerns about out-of-character construction, much of it oversized, has led the Los Angeles City Council to prohibit construction of additional 'McMansions.' In some areas, all new development will be held up for two years.

April 23, 2015 - Los Angeles Daily News

Increased awareness of sprawl’s negative effects has not led to a drop-off in its construction. Developers say they only build what the market demands.

March 2, 2015 - The Atlantic

The new American Dream will transform cities and towns in the 21st Century. To understand it, we have to grasp a few features of the previous American Dream.

August 5, 2014 - Better Cities & Towns

Henry Grabar beckons the death of the McMansion, calling it an "American embarrassment" with no easy solution for planners.

July 15, 2014 - Salon

Call them teardowns, infill, or McMansions, the affluent suburb of Decatur, Georgia is dealing with growing concern about neighborhood character and tree canopy as property owners adopt the trend toward new, large houses in existing neighborhoods.

July 1, 2014 - Atlanta Creative Loafing

An uptick in the Los Angeles housing and lending markets has precipitated the return of mansionization. A 2008 citywide ordinance adopted to prevent outsized homes on small residential lots is proving inadequate to the task.

May 9, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Even if the average size of a new home in the U.S. is creeping back up after taking a promising dip during the recession, trophy McMansions are out as home buyers seek designs that blend traditional home styles with modern floor plans and amenities.

January 28, 2014 - The Wall Street Journal

The recent reversal of America's historic trends in city growth, driving rates, and home sizes have urbanists wondering about their long-term prospects as the economy recovers. Recent data indicates one of those trends didn't have staying power.

June 4, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Is a new luxury 6,721 square-foot home located in a gated community on the far outskirts of Las Vegas truly “the new face of efficiency"? Kaid Benfield elaborates on how the LEED certification system can be so easily gamed.

January 23, 2013 - The National Resources Defense Council

Homeowners have been downsizing their homes in the last five years, but now 84 percent of homeowners want to stay put or move into a larger home. This change in trend can be attributed to growing families and their need for more living space.

December 22, 2012 - CNBC

Well that didn't take long. After falling out of favor during the economic downturn, AnnaMaria Andriotis examines how the rise in new home sales is being driven in part by demand for those maligned symbols of conspicuous consumption.

May 25, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Kaid Benfield looks at recent trends in the housing sector and asks whether America's infatuation with the McMansion is over.

February 10, 2012 - Switchboard

Nona Willis Aronowitz reports on a new survey indicating 60% of respondents would sacrifice a bigger house to live in a neighborhood that featured a mix of houses, stores, and businesses within an easy walk.

February 8, 2012 - Good

In Merced, California, students fill in the large homes chockablock with amenities and left vacant by a high foreclosure rate. Rents often go for under $300 a month.

November 15, 2011 - The New York Times

Mukesh Ambani found himself the center of a lot of controversy with the 27-story residence he built last year in Mumbai, overlooking a sea of poverty. Vikas Bajaj reports that now that it is completed, the Ambani's hardly even use it.

October 19, 2011 - The New York Times

With the help of Councilmember Paul Krekorian of the Los Angeles City Hall, Studio City residents developed an anti-mansionization ordinance called the "Residential Floor Area" to limit the size of residential construction on existing lots.

October 7, 2011 - The Patch

Steven Huff, who is chairman of a concrete company, is building a 13 bedroom, 14 bath home in Highlandville, Missouri out of his company's energy-efficient concrete. When built, it will be one of the largest homes in the U.S.

October 4, 2011 - The Kansas City Star

Americans have shunned the "McMansion" for smaller, more appropriately proportioned homes, a trend which has benefited from the economic recession.

March 10, 2011 - ecohome

Surveys show that those born between 1980 and the early 2000s want to live in an urban setting -- and not in a humongous house.

January 14, 2011 - The Wall Street Journal