There are diaries in the last two days by Vyan, AoT on the significance
of the encampments. It isn't a uniform situation, many cities are trying to deal with the camps as they do with homeless, the large increase and social dislocation with foreclosures, layoffs of thousands all troubles caused by the fallout of the failures of the 1% to rule properly.
The facts on the ground are the effort to "put people back to work" are token, limited and basically political stunts so far, a small fraction of what's needed. The existence of the Occupy is an attempt to take initiative to fight the economic crisis by people at the ground level and not beg for charity from the rulers.
The existence of a public gathering space, Occupy's persistent effort that is very encouraging to the community giving people a place to go, (more under Mr Squiggly)
meet others facing common problems, and find unity and allies helping to challenge problems confronting them. There is a steady stream of ideas, actions, that challenge the failed policy models and structures. Even though it is at a very basic kind of level it represents the best hope for a significant and sweeping change in how our society should run.
It is important to sustain and keep a site be it with some local variations on how it is organized and operated (see Providence, Syracuse, and the ongoing faceoff in LA for differing views about dealing with the city each camp is located in).
There would obviously be differences in a large city with a huge population in distress like LA and a much smaller one where the immediate logistics are not as overwhelming.
The encampment becomes like a small city itself, and has to provide all sorts of services and address the needs of its inhabitants, the Occupiers and supporters.
The point to be understood here is the permanence and running the camp as a symbol of the Occupy movement demonstrates the alternative, not that it is something to be realized in the future in some nirvana we might get to some day.
We build, even at a very small level from day 1. We learn and refine this as we go. There is a precedent for this: in prior troubled times, think of the Bonus March, the Bonus Army setting up camp in Washington DC demanding the government pay the bonus it promised early to veterans destitute and desperate for any work, any income.
Zucotti Park was broken up and overrun by Bloomberg, the 1%er Mayor exactly because it was so successful, not because it was "failing" or "unsanitary".
NYC Occupiers will have to find several new locations and give the 1% even bigger frights than they have demonstrated so far.
The rest of us have to deal with local conditions, and use all the means available to us to get rolling or defend what we are doing. Negotiating is not the opposite of successful actions to solve problems. It is the opposite of non negotiating. Where that helps us get started, or creates a permanent kind of space , it should be pursued.
We do not have options like waiting for things to get better in the present stacked deck kind of situation, a game of "Catch 22" on whatever we do. This is direct action politics and we have to find means to make it even more effective and strike out at targets that people bring to our attention. This wins support from those looking to us to find solutions about those problems where they live and work.
This all boils down to saving, repurposing space and finding a consensus to carry on and defend the interests of the 99%. It might mean negotiating with city officials when they are willing to work with us to address critical needs like the one where a commons space is a first amendment right and something we can build upon in a time of austerity and civic collapse.