I found this blog post the other day, and it raised an instant question, different urban planning styles throughout the world. I went to the the original page that Armelle Caron presents her own work, and it absolutely fascinated me. What Caron did is slicing seven cities, each one having their distinct properties, to individual blocks, and then presenting those blocks in an organized fashion. Here is New York and how the Big Apple looks after organizing the blocks...
New York Blocks and Organized Slices
Now, I don't have a lot of experience with actual urban planning, but when I looked at that from a professional standpoint, the first thing that popped to my mind is "Wow that is a lot of intersections" (Obviously I didn't consider map scales and neighborhoods). And it sheds lights on a problem we discussed a lot during grad school. What are the main effects of the US urban planning style on the traffic? I think the main difference is simple. US system is definitely safer for pedestrians and cyclists, because of the number of stops each vehicle is experiencing per unit length. Also with the addition of the fact that the pedestrian intervals at stops are higher (wider streets, more requirements, although everyone basically uses MUTCD or something very close to that), the drivers simply experience more delay. Apart from that, I think Caron demonstrates the US-style grid plan and Commissioners' Plan of 1811 perfectly.
The next and the other city I will to cover is obviously Istanbul. It's just that I don't know much about the characteristics and patterns in the other cities, but definitely give them a look at Caron's website.