Bathtubs in the living room? That was a thing? I know the first time my non-urban self saw my niece's Brooklyn apartment, I was somewhat taken aback by how tiny it was. The living room was small-ish but not terribly so but the kitchen was basically just the appliances and my niece had no room for anything in her bedroom except for a twin bed. She didn't even have a dresser...or a closet. Her clothes, few as they were, were stored in the living room. AND she shared this tiny space with two other people, AND the rent was typical for NYC but seemed shockingly high to me. BUT it was a really cute space in a relatively nice neighborhood with many great places within walking distance.
I *did* grow up a suburban kid (though more in the late 70s/very early 80s than mid-late 80s). Malls were never my thing though I certainly went to them every now and then. Riding my bicycle around my block WAS my thing, and hanging out with friends DID sometimes mean being in someone's finished basement, though most of my friends didn't have a basement in their house. None of us played D&D--I don't think that was yet a thing when I was a tween/teen--but we WERE nerds in our own way. And yet somehow Stranger Things never really tapped into my nostalgia. Possibly because my town was small and boring and didn't have monsters or big mysteries to solve? <g>
