alt Hacker NewsI think you and OP just have different definitions for "apartment building".
I've lived in pretty large buildings (eg dozens of units and four floors high) that were largely made of wood in both the northeast of the US and California.
They aren't high-rise buildings but I wouldn't argue they aren't apartment buildings, and they're far from uncommon.
Yeah I was thinking mainly of condo towers in cities, which I normally associate with apartment buildings. California has different rules due to high earthquake frequency. It's hard to generalize elsewhere.