I find rewriting is more necessary in some languages than others. In Java, a rewrite was common. In Lisp, I don't think I've ever rewritten: the first dumbest prototype is just one continuous refactoring away from the final product. Python and Ruby were somewhere in between.

I kind of have a vague feeling for why this would be true, but I can't quite put it into words. Maybe it has to do with how much structural stuff I have to write, or how directly I can express my program in the first place. Thoughts?