Hello great rooms, goodbye dining rooms:

But in many new apartments, even a space to put a table and chairs is absent. Eating is relegated to couches and bedrooms, and hosting a meal has become virtually impossible. This isn’t simply a response to consumer preferences. The housing crisis—and the arbitrary regulations that fuel it—is killing off places to eat whether we like it or not, designing loneliness into American floor plans. If dining space keeps dying, the U.S. might not have a chance to get it back…

According to surveys in 2015 and 2016 by the National Association of Home Builders, 86 percent of households want a combined kitchen and dining room—a preference accommodated by only 75 percent of new homes. If anything, the classic dining room isn’t dying fast enough for most people’s taste…

“For the most part, apartments are built for Netflix and chill,” Bobby Fijan, a real-estate developer and floor-plan expert, told me. “The reason the dining room is disappearing is that we are allocating [our] limited space to bedrooms and walk-in closets.” Even though we’re dining at home more and more—going to restaurants peaked in 2000—many new apartments offer only a kitchen island as an obvious place to eat.

The article does a nice job laying out some of the reasons for these shifts. Builders and consumers have reasons for moving away from dining rooms.

Another way to think about this: sitting down an eating is now a secondary task to other matters including watching screens and being near kitchen activity (food preparation, socializing). Having a dedicated spot to sit and eat – which then can lead to conversation and togetherness – is less of a priority.

Does having a dining room lead to more meals eaten together? Does having a dining room lead people to spend more time there or does the dining room get put to other uses?