This is such a bad misunderstanding of causation. Modern buildings suck because modern city planning sucks. The buildings look like they do because developers have to follow the asinine rules thought up by a bunch of bureaucrats, who are just responding to fear of being yelled at by thin-skinned people who are easily offended. So basically everything except tasteless copy-paste buildings are illegal.
The system is so bad it’s beyond tragic to the point of farce. There are better alternatives (search for the CNU Charter Awards for examples), but very few have been able to break through the regulatory slog.
It's not just the look, it's the location and function. There is no lot too out-of-the-way, secluded, or on a major thoroughfare too much for a copy-paste 4-plex.
If the building rules need to be changed for sensible city development and design, then that should be the battleground that YIMBYs are focused on, rather than raucously cheering on every new development owned by an out-of-state investment group (whose board of directors--surprise!--universally live in actually nice areas) and then acting confused when the price of housing doesn't go down across the decade.
The system is so bad it’s beyond tragic to the point of farce. There are better alternatives (search for the CNU Charter Awards for examples), but very few have been able to break through the regulatory slog.
Every city has done this to itself.