Neat and centered New Urbanist villages seem a long way from the strip and lists, and our non-concentric, non-hierarchical, virtual, discontinuous, repeated, contested, (commodified and themed) places. New Urbanist developments look like they reject all I have spoken of as characteristic of our new places. They work hard to achieve that look of being centered and complete in themselves.
Once again, though, we should not confuse architectural style with the grammar of a place. The strips and are just outside the neat villages. The lists and the non-concentric and the virtual penetrate the village. They may not be as visible in the architecture but they are there in grammar and expectations and patterns of life and work.
(c) David Kolb, 1 August 2001