The people who lived through the depression were probably ecstatic about being able to afford to buy a 1200 ft^2 house. The people who are now growing up in 3000 ft^2 houses may feel like the future is bleak when they look at being able to afford to buy only a 1200 ft^2 house, if they can buy a house at all, on whatever their pay could be as they enter their jobs and careers.
For whatever reason, people tend to look at the state of things in a relative sense (hence the obsession with college rankings) rather than in an absolute sense. A future that looks worse than it is now, even if it is good in an absolute sense, can drain away people’s optimism. Similarly, if the future looks better than it is now, people may be optimistic, even if it is not so good in an absolute sense.