There are absolutely tons of towns like that, but they're old towns that grew organically from villages. Cold Spring, NY, Shelbourne Falls, MA and Santa Fe, NM are some examples that come to mind. What this blog is talking about is really new developments and the gradual transformation of old, previously functioning towns.
I live near Santa Fe, NM and I cannot possibly agree with this characterization. Most modern (i.e. non-tourist) commerce in S.Fe is on Cerrillos Road. While I support this arrangement to a large degree, Cerrillos is a 4 mile long strip mall, in essence. In a car, it's convenient. On foot, it's a nightmare. There is a bus running up and down, but the bus rarely seems to have much ridership.
The old core of S.Fe contains almost none of the basic essential retail outlets for day to day life. There are no supermarkets, no hardware stores, for example (Kaunes is about as close it gets). You see very few people walking around other than tourists. It is true that the Rail Yards is a moderately successful (re)development of a downtown area that was previously ... well, rail yards. But it hasn't really done much to change the retail/hang out situation other than adding an REI, a brewery and a movie theater. All good things (for me) but they don't change the fact that living in S.Fe without a car will remind you constantly that you don't have a car.
One great thing here are hundreds of speed bumps on residential streets. These do provide a distinct message ("Slow the F*CK down") when driving in those neighorhoods, but they do not change the car-centric nature of the city.
Need to slightly amend this, to avoid showing my rank ignorance of all things S.Fe. There is, of course, a Whole Foods Market right on the edge of the Rail Yards, which very much would count as "downtown" and "in the core", and it is indeed busy and well used. OTOH, the parking lot is nearly always packed, and I'm not convinced there's a lot of foot traffic there.
Some people might even consider the Trader Joes on Cordova
to be within the boundaries of "the core" (along with the Natural Grocer catty-corner opposite), but I think that's pushing it a bit.
I don't live in Santa Fe, but I think it's got a very walkable core. That said, it's also a very typical example of a town whose residential suburbia has ballooned without support from public transit, to the point that if you don't live near Cerillos Road, you're basically in the suburbs and absolutely you need a car.
Well, the problem is that "the core" isn't "the core" :)
It's very walkable if you're visiting or enjoying a day in town. It's very unwalkable if you need to get normal day to day or week to week shopping done.
The transit/'burbs thing is probably true, but I live so far from the city that I'm not really familiar with the transit situation.
