Stand over height is something that they only started worrying about comparatively recently, in fact it pretty much matches when people started sueing companies because they were stupid and the company did not take that into consideration. In the old days the only thing anyone worried about was whether they could reach the pedals; and I have seen old bikes with blocks on the pedals to make that posible. If you look at some books about bicycle history you will notice that while people were shorter on average back then their bike were much bigger than today.

Personally, I like a frame that I can put one foot on the pedal and the other on the ground which makes it safe to stop at a light, If I tried to straddle it flatfooted it would be a definite "ouch!"