But my idea is to really make something new, which would eclipse what we have, would be appealing so as to make what we currently have obsolete. Maybe I am misunderstanding your comment. But I think claiming downtown as part of this new society is in bounds. What this whole thing will require is an overwhelming majority of consent from the people. That will be the challenge. But Rome was not built over night, and neither will be the foundations of a new type of human society.

A society built on trust, honesty, and mutual regard...

Don't look like sidewalk obstacles impede anyone. Seems like it is good for business.

There's also nobody in the picture sitting on the sidewalk. If you notice, the flow of people is moving.

The only people who are stopped along the side of a building are on the left-hand side, beginning with the woman in red (who presumably is an employee) about to lift a box of some sort, a woman to her right examining the product with the intent to purchase, and a man trying to put his yellow umbrella away.

From the Flickr description:

street vendors to the west; banks and jewelry shops to the east. Tourists as well as locals pack the Canal Street sidewalks every day to frequent the open-air food stalls and bare-bones stores selling items such as perfume, purses, hardware, and industrial plastics at very low prices.

Let's see...street vendors, banks, jewelry shops, tourists, food stalls and "bare-bones stores." What do they have in common? They're offering a product or service in exchange for currency (or in the case of tourists, spending money).

Most of these goods are grey market imports and many notoriously counterfeit, with fake trademarked brand names on electronics, clothing and personal accessories (including the fake rolex watches that have become a Manhattan cliché). Pirated CDs and DVDs are very common,

Just like when I went to Mexico!