I have seen this in my city recently. There's a fairly popular tourist street where they removed all car access, converting it to a pedestrian strip with a tram

I have seen this in my city recently. There's a fairly popular tourist street where they removed all car access, converting it to a pedestrian strip with a tram line. The businesses fought it aggressively because they thought customers would disappear along with the few parking spaces. As expected by most sensible people, the opposite happened. More space for customers means they can access shops without cramming through busy footpaths, and enjoy the street itself more, spending more time there. Now it has more capacity and the businesses that opposed it seem to be doing very well.