Town, perhaps, left in the grip of progress (5)
I believe the answer is:
place
'town perhaps' is the definition.
'left in the grip of progress' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'in the grip of' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'progress' becomes 'pace' (**).
'l' put inside 'pace' is 'PLACE'.
(Other definitions for place that I've seen before include "Locate" , "Put in - winning position" , "Spot" , "Location; put" , "Venue" .)