Ah, an idea comes to mind. Have you ever watched Xena? Might be why my perception of centaurs may be different from yours. Also, I think they'd develop a new sub economy based on centaur taxi drivers/city transport, tour guides.
In Xena, most plot/story lines have centaurs in conflict with Amazons, or Xena's thug pals back when she was evil, and they're hearty, awkward warriors. A sub theme involves them being killed, their lands encroached upon, and so forth. Portrayed mostly in browns and greys, living in dusty environments and rickety wooden fences. I think in an ideal world Xena-story centaurs just want to be left alone. If you ever get the chance, there's an episode of Xena where Gabrielle is producing a play in a popular city, and a rather pretentious centaur auditions, and it's hilarious. edit: Found the episode. The centaur character's scene starts at approx 12:35, and he's in another small scene starting approx 18:20--