Being able to legally build a loft for sleeping (one can already build a loft that one isn't able to sleep in) is hardly the making of a slum. In fact, with our beautiful evening and night skies, many friends of mine have modified their homes so that they sleep in lofts under skylights. None of them would have done so if they hadn't found a way around the stairway problem. 

Heck, my niece lives in a half-million dollar home that has a ladder to a loft that pre-dates current code. She would like to upgrade the ladder but isn't allowed to unless she converts it to a stairway, which just won't fit. There's nothing remotely slum-like about her home with a loft.

We probably agree that our building codes need to be upgraded and enforced. However, allowing people to use ladders to access sleeping quarters is where we may have to agree to disagree.