This misses the mark in a few ways. 1) survivorship bias, old buildings we see have survived because they are either pretty, useful or too expensive to replace

This misses the mark in a few ways. 1) survivorship bias, old buildings we see have survived because they are either pretty, useful or too expensive to replace. 2) old buildings are presented at good looking, even if they aren't. Just look at some of the victorian cheese that infests london 3) people don't commission their own houses as much anymore 4) labour is expensive