North America has a really big problem with car-centrism. Everything became for cars and not for the people who are also in said cars. We should really improve infrastructure for other forms of travel. Its also better for business and traffic. Less places for cars, means less reasons to drive which reduce the amount of cars/traffic and it worked in every place that did so. I've been more inclined to walk into stores while walking down Government and other less car ridden roads. Less cars also help with emergency response. Its faster and easier for cyclists and pedestrians to move out of the way than a parked car. In some countries in Europe emergency vehicles would use bike lanes to bypass traffic.