The problem you are pointing out is really how the builders were really pushing the envelope with their attempts to fit as big of a house on as small of a lot as humanly possible back in the bubble days. whether it be backloading or traditional, the end result as far as full sized SFR goes is utterly ridiculous.
Fieldstone produced these god awful SFR (Silvercrest) at around 3000 sqft around the same time as Maybeck. the lots are more elongated but narrower, but both developments average 4800 sqft per home. the resulting yard space is basically exactly the same:
[img_assist|nid=14753|title=Maybeck vs Silvercrest|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=205]
so given the same lot size and house size, once again traditional vs backloading yield the same result, so it still comes down to personal preference.
