K, let me clarify a few things here.
First of all, have you ever heard of the term "baloon-frame"? It's a type of wooden structure for housing developed in the early 1800's in the US. It's a very fast way of building a house and it's made out of prefab walls that you assembly together. It is also very light (and cheap), hence the name: someone wondered that if they're so light, wouldn't they be swept away by the wind like a baloon? => baloon frame. So culturaly, this is typical to the US. In Europe we have the Fachwerk system, which is a tad more complex.
Chosing wood isn't about the looks at all. First of all, wood is a very durable and strong material, behaves well under earthquakes due to its flexibility and it is indeed, nowadays, environment-friendly. You do have to chop some forest, indeed, but if you'd go for brick or concrete, the production of those materials is much more damaging than chopping down a tree.
Secondly, wooden houses are cheaper and way faster to build. Of course they wouldn't be the perfect choice in tornado alley, but they work fine everywhere else.
A whole bunch of houses are made out of wood, but you can't see it because the structure is hidden under finishes.
Brick houses are very good becasue brick is an excellent insulant, so in the summer it keeps the heat out and during winter it keeps it in. Under earthquakes though they're not really advantaged over wood, because brick is more rigid and brittle and there's a tad higher chances of collapsing.
Oh, and to conclude, wood is still used and it's going to be used for making roofs. Unless you have a terrace, that's wood that's holding up your roof.
