In Portland Oregon, an outfit called City Repair (http://cityrepair.org) has undertaken a project to de-pave abandoned parking lots etc, to liberate the soil, reduce storm runoff and reclaim the city for people and plants rather than cars. See http://depave.org.
In Syracuse, I would start by ripping out the West Street Arterial. It has never been necessary from a traffic capacity standpoint. I blame it (along with the elevated DL&W tracks) for the decline of the near West Side, cutting it off from downtown. Such a profligate deployment of impervious surfaces has created storm runoff that has for many years added to the pollution of Onondaga Creek and Onondaga Lake.
A West Street of normal width could again be crossed by pedestrians. It could be again lined with shops and dwellings and connect to parks and gardens. It could knit the West Side back together rather than divide it.
Death to the West Street Arterial!
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