I snapped a picture of this lovely neighborhood with its consistent and unifying architecture and didn’t think twice. I backtracked my route via Google Maps and discovered it’s called the Place des Vosges. There’s some urban planning history here. Apparently, it’s the oldest planned square in Paris, built between 1605 and 1612.

The well-ordered, consistent, but with variations, looks very attractive. You can tell I enjoy a structured approach to things. I’m at a loss at how much people back then knew about human-centered and beautiful urban planning and, in contrast, how crappy our modern cities are.

A beautiful neighborhood, like the magnificent department store I featured yesterday, adds to the community. Maybe Europe still has this concept, but it’s all but lost in the United States. All we seem to care about is convenience and cheapness. Do you think that has a positive effect on our society?

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