We have a lot less space here than you do as we're a tiny little country, so in many places a 7ft (or even occasionally 6ft) English table is the only option.
There are definitely some snooker players that look down on anyone that plays on 9ft US pool tables and equally there are some pool players who play on 9 footers that look down on 7ft English tables.
However they are all very different games. 8-Ball on an English table is arguably more challenging than 8-Ball on a 9 foot US table due to the pocket style/tightness, however they aren't directly comparable due to the different rule sets and tactics.
What we don't really have here are 7ft US style tables, if a bar/pub has space for a 7ft table then 99% of the time it will be an English pool table, with the other 1% probably being a bar billiards table
So in answer to your question, yes some people do, but the key difference is that a US bar table is simply a small US pool table, an English pool table requires far more accuracy and is more like a mini snooker table than a US pool table.
As you have have mentioned, for whatever reason, English pool (Blackball) in particular is becoming increasingly popular as US pool declines in popularity over here (in the UK), not sure why, I think the IPA have just marketed their tour better!