Not to be that guy but there is some validity to this. Having multiple staircases makes it almost impossible to have units that are more than 1 bed 1 bath or studios, keeping families from moving into higher density housing. Here is a very good video on this.
(Vox journalists are still the most annoying people)
Europe solved the problem by requiring buildings to be made out of fire resistant materials. Amerikkka was growing rapidly at the time and used timber to build housing because it was cheaper and quicker so they had to implement other ways to keep people from burning alive.