Since my posting, my good friend Mehran Sahami, has pointed out that the syntax of language also lend themselves well to Top Down Design. He is absolutely correct.
At the risk of sounding passive aggressive, most programmers I know, do a combination of top down and bottom up coding/design. Also, design and writing the programming syntax may be separated, with coding adding to or adjusting the original design.
But Mehran is absolutely correct. UML is a perfect example of how Top Down Design results in good architecture and good programming.
