the reason these steel boxes win the prize is simple: They are dirt cheap. Construction works out to $8/sq ft. Find something cheaper. You won’t.
The economy of scale was acheived on these a long time ago.
I’ll be an optimist here. Once installed, people’s sense of design will take over. The low cost leaves lots of room for expense on landscaping to break up their angular and ugly appearance. Give this time, I think this could be a winner in the struggle over low income housing. So long as they can fight the rust, too, maintenance costs should be very low for these metal boxes.