{"id":184,"date":"2025-09-13T15:33:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/13\/why-americans-cant-have-quaint-walkup-apartments-ex1\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:33:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T15:33:00","slug":"why-americans-cant-have-quaint-walkup-apartments-ex1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/13\/why-americans-cant-have-quaint-walkup-apartments-ex1\/","title":{"rendered":"The one reason Americans can&#8217;t build quaint, walk-up apartments like they have in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most beautiful features of <a data-linked-post=\"2666972767\" href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/its-all-a-lie-woman-who-returned-from-europe-shares-why-life-is-much-harder-in-the-us-ex1\" target=\"_blank\">old European neighborhoods <\/a>are the rows of quaint, walk-up apartments that are the backbone of <a data-linked-post=\"2657172960\" href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/american-mom-living-in-germany-dispels-myths-about-living-overseas\" target=\"_blank\">walkable neighborhoods<\/a>. They help create a community where people can exit their front door and walk to a local caf\u00e9 or market without getting in their car.<br \/><\/p><p>Unfortunately, these neighborhoods are hard to find in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/tag\/america\" target=\"_self\">United States<\/a>, where these types of apartment buildings are exceedingly rare. Why is that? In the video below, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@AboutHere\" target=\"_blank\">About Here\u2019s founder<\/a>, <a href=\"\/kids-walking-to-school-ex1\" target=\"_self\">Uytae Lee<\/a>, explains why regulations in North America have made these quaint walk-up apartments, known by architects as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archpaper.com\/2023\/03\/why-does-american-multifamily-architecture-look-so-banal-heres-one-reason\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">point access blocks<\/a>, nearly impossible to build.<\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image\">        <figure class=\"rkv-rebelmouse\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/qa-upworthy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/origin-116.gif\" alt=\"apartment buildings, quaint walk-up\" \/><figcaption>Who doesn&#039;t love a quaint apartment building?  <a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/heyarnold-hey-arnold-nicksplat-xUNd9UfEkIQ42ZjZkY\" rel=\"nofollow\">Giphy<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>        <\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/uytaelee?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Uytae Lee<\/a> is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upworthy.com\/i-never-realized-how-dumb-our-cities-are-until-i-saw-what-a-smart-one-looks-like-rp\" target=\"_self\">urban planner<\/a> and videographer passionate about sharing stories about our cities.<\/p><p>\u201cQuaint walk-up apartments \u2026 are a beloved feature in cities around the world,\u201d Lee says in his video entitled \u201cWhy North Americans Can\u2019t Have Nice Apartments.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re inviting and full of character. But, here in North America, they are not allowed to be built today. Instead, our apartments are big and imposing, often stretching across the entire block and the reason why it really comes down to one reason: staircases.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">        \t\t<div class=\"embed-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-has-aspect-ratio \"> \n\t\t\t\t<div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/iRdwXQb7CfM\/hqdefault.jpg)\" class=\"rkv-video-placeholder \" data-provider=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"iRdwXQb7CfM\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Play video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"17\" height=\"20\" viewBox=\"0 0 17 20\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M16.5 9.75047C16.5006 10.0051 16.4353 10.2556 16.3105 10.4775C16.1856 10.6995 16.0055 10.8853 15.7875 11.017L2.28 19.2802C2.05227 19.4196 1.79144 19.4957 1.52445 19.5007C1.25746 19.5056 0.993989 19.4392 0.76125 19.3083C0.530728 19.1794 0.338696 18.9914 0.204904 18.7637C0.0711107 18.536 0.000385179 18.2768 0 18.0127V1.48828C0.000385179 1.22417 0.0711107 0.964934 0.204904 0.737222C0.338696 0.509511 0.530728 0.321545 0.76125 0.192655C0.993989 0.0617322 1.25746 -0.00468706 1.52445 0.0002572C1.79144 0.00520146 2.05227 0.0813301 2.28 0.220781L15.7875 8.4839C16.0055 8.6156 16.1856 8.80145 16.3105 9.0234C16.4353 9.24534 16.5006 9.49582 16.5 9.75047Z\" fill=\"white\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t        <\/p><p>The problem is that one stairway in a point access block allows access to all apartments. This became a problem in the late 1800s when fires were commonplace in urban areas worldwide and people were more likely to die in a fire with only one exit route. So, in the U.S. and Canada, they created new regulations that made it so all buildings over two to three stories had to have two staircases to allow them to exit during a fire.<\/p><p>\u201cStaircases take up a lot of space and fitting two of them in a small building means that there is much less usable floor space on every floor,\u201d Lee says in the video. \u201cAs a result, developers here construct much larger buildings so that the staircases and hallways take up a much smaller proportion of the overall building. It&#8217;s why apartments in North America, in general, are much bigger and wider than their European counterparts.\u201d<\/p><p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image\">        <figure class=\"rkv-rebelmouse\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/qa-upworthy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/09\/origin-117.gif\" alt=\"staircase in tall building\" \/><figcaption>Regulations on staircases limit housing possibilities in the U.S and Canada.  <a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/nbc-season-5-magnum-pi-nbcs-GgfRxiGVoZjCmjMdlI\" rel=\"nofollow\">Giphy<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>        <\/p><p>But there are fires in Europe, too. Why did they stop short of requiring multiple staircases in apartment buildings on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Instead of changing the floorplans on new buildings, Europeans opted to require fireproof materials in new building construction. A big reason why the U.S. and Canada opted for larger buildings over fireproofing was because they had better access to materials and the new direction aligned with the move towards suburban sprawl.<\/p><p>The two-staircase regulations in the U.S also made it harder to build units greater than one bedroom because the buildings needed long hallways which reduced the number of layout options.<\/p><p>The current housing crisis has many rethinking the regulations that require apartment buildings to have two stairways in North America. Many urban planners believe that modern-day demands mean we should return to building more point access block buildings, but this time with modern fire-retardant materials.<\/p><p>In some cities, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theurbanist.org\/2023\/02\/07\/one-stairway-is-enough-to-reach-housing-heaven\/\" target=\"_blank\">Seattle, Washington<\/a>, lawmakers have repealed staircase mandates and begun building point access block housing to ease the crisis. And more appear to be joining the movement.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Until recently, Seattle, New York, and Honolulu were the only U.S. cities that allowed apartment buildings up to 6 stories to have just 1 stairway.<br><br>More cities and towns should follow suit\u2014it&#39;d provide much-needed housing without risking anyone&#39;s safety. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LWQhATtmCl\">https:\/\/t.co\/LWQhATtmCl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; The Pew Trusts (@pewtrusts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pewtrusts\/status\/1907434149960409123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 2, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n        <p>\u201cNow, if all this makes you a bit nervous, I get it. After all, these codes are about our safety. But I do want to mention that these codes do change over time as our technology and our understanding of safety evolves,\u201d Lee finishes the video. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we discuss and update these rules as our world changes.\u201d<\/p><p>Pew Charitable Trust reports that small, single-stairway apartments <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewtrusts.org\/en\/research-and-analysis\/reports\/2025\/02\/small-single-stairway-apartment-buildings-have-strong-safety-record\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">actually have a strong safety record<\/a>, sharing that those kinds of buildings as tall as six stories are &#8220;at least as safe as other types of housing.&#8221; As we gather data and learn more, we should be able to adjust our regulations. So maybe, hopefully, there are more quaint apartment buildings in our future. <\/p><p><em>This article originally appeared two years ago.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The stairs themselves are the problem in North America, though that&#8217;s starting to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":187846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alternative_headline":"","alternative_description":"","alternative_featured_image":0,"rkv_announcement":{"visible":true},"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"partner_boost":false,"hide_partner_badge":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[203,177,146],"tags":[135,1916,1917,1918,1919,1920,1921,1922,1923,1924,1925,1926,1927,1928],"sponsor":[],"rkv-people-shadow":[215,216],"class_list":["post-184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-joy","category-popular","tag-popular_source-pageview","tag-about-here","tag-affordable-housing","tag-apartment-buildings","tag-apartments-in-europe","tag-apartments-in-the-u-s","tag-europe-vs-america","tag-housing-crisis","tag-north-american-apartments","tag-urban-development","tag-uytae-lee","tag-walkable-cities","tag-walkable-communities","tag-walkup-apartments"],"edit_link":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"rkv_author":{"id":215,"name":"Tazreena Sajjad","display_name":"Tazreena Sajjad","first_name":"","last_name":"","nickname":"","url":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/author\/tazreena-sajjad\/","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/author\/tazreena-sajjad\/","description":"","slug":"tazreena-sajjad","avatar_urls":[],"email":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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