Author compares apples and oranges though. The closes thing to a planned communities ("hellholes" as people refer them to in this thread) are so called "sleeper

Author compares apples and oranges though. The closes thing to a planned communities ("hellholes" as people refer them to in this thread) are so called "sleeper districts" in ex-USSR. Outskirts of towns, full of multi-storied apartment buildings, all looking the same, with a large "univermag" (supermarket) somewhere in the middle. I used to live in Greater New York area and it's full of little towns like Union, Springfield, Millburn that look and feel very close to the European towns the author likes that much. Even Short Hills - the "sleeper district" of the affluent East coast - looks amazingly good, and it's strictly residential. The deeper South you go, the more planned neighborhoods are there. But saying that "all US is like that" is a stretch.