In Germany all new construction is reinforced concrete, I always assumed that’s because it’s cheaper than masonry, but might as well be due to the notoriously strict building codes.
Timber is seen as the innovative, climate friendly alternative, but it’s still more expensive than concrete.
All of this is also partly dependent on the region's availability of timber vs. other materials and if they are near fault lines. The eastern half of the USA, including Chicago, is no where near a fault line, so prioritizing less earthquake friendly materials that have other benefits is more practical. The same applies to most of Germany and there isn't any natural forest left to harvest timber from.
West coast USA is an earthquake zone and has a large timber industry in the pacific north west. Not using timber or something else that is flexible is a relative hazard!
By reinforced concrete do you mean they build forms and pour the concrete into the forms, or do you mean tilt-up (pour slabs horizontally then lift them to vertical to form wall sections) or do you mean reinforced-CMU (build a CMU wall then put rebar and grout through the cores of the completed wall?
Pouring into forms is by far the most expensive technique because those forms are costly to build and set up. In the US poured concrete is only used in simple or horizontal structures (like foundations) or where the cost of the formwork can be amortized over a lot of repeated structures, like the floors of a highrise.
Timber is seen as the innovative, climate friendly alternative, but it’s still more expensive than concrete.