The Difficulty With Implementing Planning Ideals

"The new urbanist village, in the hands of artists like Peter Calthorpe or Stefanos Polyzoides, is often a handsome design. Owing something to the traditions of the French Ecole des Beaux Arts, these designs set up a hierarchy of bigger spaces and major avenues that are broken down into smaller spaces and smaller streets."

"In the builder vernacular version of the urban village, such as the 493-acre Fancher Creek project in southeast Fresno, the site plan would not end up under glass on your wall, unless you were a land developer or a home builder. Elegant it is not."

Still, Newman concludes the design isn't all bad and Fancher Creek could become a decent mixed-use neighborhood.