It's not just Wall Street that needs occupying. We need to occupy all streets or really re-occupy them.
About a century ago, city streets were taken over by cars and trucks without real consideration of the long-term effects.
Today, the automobile rules nearly every American city street, woe to the pedestrian or cyclist who dares to occupy the street.
In Europe, however, many city streets have been re-occupied in the past 30 years.
Now that the cars are gone, these are the most popular streets in the city.
The 1% argues that there is no alternative to our current system and that people love to drive.
In reality, most people no longer enjoy driving. Other modes are so unpleasant that people can scarcely imagine using them.
However, in most European cities, driving is expensive and inconvenient.
People tend to avoid it. In Amsterdam, cycling accounts for half of all trips. In Venice, nearly all trips are on foot.
So let us consider the optimum number of cars in cities.
In Manhattan, relatively few people drive, but the city seems crammed with cars.
The few people in cars are taking up far more than their fair share of scare streets face.
At the same time, they fill the city with chaos, noise, pollution and danger.
Consider the recently re-occupied Times Square in the heart of the city.
Pedestrians were crammed onto narrow sidewalks and the roar and congestion of traffic overwhelmed this space.
Since traffic was removed from Broadway, Times Square has been transformed.
It is far more pleasant and people linger to enjoy the city's magic.
So if fewer cars are almost always better, wouldn't no cars be best?
Consider Venice, almost entirely car-free. The city is calm but vibrant.
You can hear yourself think. The Italians call it the most serene place.
So you may ask, what's it like to live in a car-free city?
Let's take a quick tour of car-free city centers in Spain.
Could we make our cities car-free? Would this kill our economy?
Merchants in the pedestrian districts of Europe would fear only the return of cars.
People flock to these delightful areas.
We have seen some European examples, but what would a car-free American city look like?
Take Manhattan as an example.
Street cars replace cross-town buses as is already planned for 42nd Street.
The 2nd Avenue subway would be completed.
These few changes provide a complete grid of good public transport.
Or consider Los Angeles, the poster child for autocentric cities.
Some areas of the city might eventually return to various green uses,
with the population clustering around the city.
The change to car-free cities allows us to reoccupy our cities.
We can greatly improve their sustainability while enjoying a dramatic improvement in the quality of our lives.
No futuristic technology is required.
The simple step of once again allowing the mixing of uses
brings most goods and services within easy walking distance.
It is difficult to imagine any sustainable future for our cities that does not remove most cars from them.
Since the improvements from completely removing cars are so great,
we should choose this option.
The construction and conversion of new and existing car-free cities
can provide employment in the building trades for decades.
This labor-intensive work can provide millions of cars.
We should give critical consideration to the car-free option.
However, there appear to be no significant barriers to its widespread adoption.
It offers realistic hope for a better future for the 99 percent.
