Urbanism, again: "The Liturgy of the City Street"

Here, at "GodSpy," is an interesting essay by Paul Grenier and Tim Patitsas called "The Liturgy of the City Street."  "Why are good cities such a rarity in America?", they ask.  "Why are so many of our cities and towns lifeless and ugly—and hard to love?  What are they missing?  It’s the spirit of the liturgy."

They ask:

Why is it that despite all this well-financed New Urbanism, we still have practically no cities in the United States that rival in their humanity even an average small town in Mexico or Macedonia, to say nothing of a Paris or a Prague? Why is it that the more money we throw at building 'traditional' new 'developments', the more banal and pointless they become?

The problem is not with Jacobs' and Alexander's ideas, which are profound. The problem is the superficial way in which developers and city planners understood and implemented them. Not surprisingly, they acted on the ideas that were most easily absorbed into the logic of "free market" real estate development. The problem is, it's this same logic that's hostile to the entire spirit of Jacobs' and Alexander's recommendations.

Exactly what is that spirit? It's the spirit of the liturgy. . .

There's a lot more.  Check it out.  Any reactions from Catholic new-urbanist and MOJ-friend Philip Bess?