I spent a few years living in a concrete apartment in Asia. No central air, just window AC units. Single-ply glass windows. Nothing sealed. No heat in the winte

I spent a few years living in a concrete apartment in Asia. No central air, just window AC units. Single-ply glass windows. Nothing sealed. No heat in the winter. Stuff breaks whenever it hits the concrete floor. Doors made of solid wood jam up during temperature and humidity changes. Concrete/plaster always chipping off the walls. You don’t hear people talking but you hear everything they drag on the floor quite clearly. I’ve experienced the opposite of American construction quality abroad and if anything missed the stick and plywood comforts I spent most of my life in. Central air with ducting is incredible. Dropping gadgets on wooden flooring doesn’t break them. The insulation in the walls keeps the power bills lower. And wooden construction can be quite hardy during earthquakes. There’s a tradeoff - houses in USA might not last centuries but they can provide a lot of comfort with limited structural maintenance for decades.