It's the same everywhere. All new builds get tiny lots, new houses are on top of each other, and sound echoes off the valley of houses down the street and backyards only get the perception of privacy if you put in trees and shrubs to block views of neighbors, who are still sitting on their patio 6 feet from your fence. I don't understand why people still flock to those neighborhoods, but they do and builders make huge profits.

I built my collection where there were no basements so your choice was to spread games around the house or keep them in a super hot/humid garage which is bad for you and the games. When I moved, having somewhere to put at least 10 games was a deal breaker, and fortunately my new location had basements.

I was surprised to find so many newish homes with basements having smaller footprint than the main level, and these 450sf-700sf basements are nearly worthless for anything but small collection by the time you account for stairs, a bathroom, storage room, sometimes an office. Now I believe that for collectors would most benefit from a ranch style home house... a 2000sf ranch comes with, you guessed it, a 2000sf basement, and that will hold a large collection! Make that a walkout basement with garage at basement level and you avoid stairs and elevators. Otherwise if you settle for stairs, make sure it is straight down (no turns) and wide.

70-100 pins in 800-1200sf? Only if it was one big room with no walls or support posts, and the pins on legs and smashed together with literally no space between, so they couldn't be played. For storage it would be fine, put them on end, would have plenty of room.