[azulster]

bricks and wood are unable to maximize the quality of a limited footprint. an expensive plot of land in a city needs to be built to certain quality standards to make sure it is affordable and safe. this is only possible with steel and concrete.

brick and wood alone can't build safely and cheaply over 3 stories

[pas]

Of course depending on the definition, but light-framed wood is good for around 5 stories. And mass timber (eg. CLT - cross-laminated timber) is good up to ~20. And for the foundation concrete is still needed. But a lighter one.

https://www.construction-physics.com/p/mass-timber-is-great-...

[nick__m]

  brick and wood alone can't build safely and cheaply over 3 stories 

Tell that to those architects: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/worlds-tallest-woo...

[astrange]

That's not plain wood like American houses are made of, it's a new kind of engineered material that's made out of wood called CLT.

[pchristensen]

Much of American cities and outer areas of are 0 stories (big lots, wide roads, etc), or maybe 1-2. Building technology is not the limiting factor.