My grandparents enjoyed home ownership in a very nice neighborhood, in what is now an extremely high COL area. They had every modern convenience of their time period, sent their kids to college, and retired on-time without a care. Neither attended high school. It's often stated that the post-WWII era was just a fluke. I don't know enough to have an opinion about that, but it sure did lead to the perception that the American Dream evaporated for most people.