These are most likely two separate problems. Car based urban planning which requires large wide roads, giant carparks and 'boxey houses' due to garages can overwhelm any other aesthetically pleasing design (notably green space).
Admiring the old brick styles of the ivy leagues is simple confirmation bias due to their academic prestige.
There are plenty of beautiful Modernist buildings, it comes down to if the college is willingly to pay for it.
Mandatory voting would be the fastest way to "fix" America.
Turnout based voting means you win by radicalizing your side to show up to vote.
Most voters would fall into a bell curve of political preference and in the US that middle stays home.
In Australia it forces both major parties back into the center so they don't scare off the majority of voters, and the extreme wings of either side typically hold little sway.
Music streaming solved this problem by remembering they were combating piracy not each other. Each music service has all the music and they all pay royalties.
TV streaming services have come full circle and are repeating the same cable tv mistakes that caused piracy to flourish in the first place.
Admiring the old brick styles of the ivy leagues is simple confirmation bias due to their academic prestige. There are plenty of beautiful Modernist buildings, it comes down to if the college is willingly to pay for it.