Do you live in a high COL area? There are plenty of places that are not "extremely rural" that you should have no problem owning a home. I'm an hour outside of Chicago living your Dad's 90's lifestyle on a solid but not spectacular IT salary that was a lot smaller when I bought my house eight years ago.
That's all well and good. I don't begrudge anyone for spending their money how they wish. Just don't choose to spend your money on those amenities and then complain and act like it's some sort of generational injustice that you can't afford a home or family in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
I'm 20 miles outside of Seattle renting from a private owner, so comparable rent for the same 1br to where I grew up in suburb upstate NY. Shop at walmart, dollar general. Went back to smaller town NY last year to visit family, absolutely no difference in costs except electricity costs are higher there.
Rents aren't cheaper than what I'm paying even in the 'flyover state' cities.
