Street vendor ban endangers community
Yasmine Kahsai | Daily Trojan
Though street vending is illegal under city law, few authorities actually enforce the ban and allow vendors to operate without fear of harassment. However, a council decision last year reinstated the long-dormant ban on vendor operations in city parks, and critics have begun to voice complaints at increased congestion in public walkways and potential competition between vendors and actual businesses around them.
In a sense, they’re not wrong. Vendors themselves have reported a marked increase in street vending over the past years. Most are attempting to make enough money to make ends meet in the face of rising living costs and stagnating wages in the city. Some report the presence of native-born American vendors in addition to the existing primarily immigrant sellers. The rise in street vending for Los Angeles is indicative of a need for expanded economic opportunity in the city. Critics who undermine immigrant businesses are putting the beautification of their neighborhoods over the livelihoods of poor families.
For thousands of families, street vending is an economic necessity, not a side job for already employed Americans. Some vendors report that they earn only $40 a day —and it is their family’s sole source of income. Others squeeze what little they can out of selling apparel in order to make rent prices. Unlike those maintaining food trucks, which require more capital and permits, those running street-side businesses routinely face risk of fines and are unable to obtain permits under L.A. city law. For a city known for gourmet food trucks, the lack of support structures or a permit system for vendors is a contradiction which suppresses immigrant families for whom this revenue is a necessity.
Opponents advocating for a crackdown on sidewalk businesses contend that vendors themselves not only hurt small businesses but also congest sidewalks, hurting economic activity. But these arguments discount the presence of the vendors themselves as immigrant-owned businesses that provide sources for economic empowerment; their profits alone contribute almost half a billion dollars to the city economy almost every year. Congestion is a small price to pay for a major source of economic activity helping poor, primarily immigrant families survive.
The rhetoric of city “beautification” in the face of street vendors is not a unique one; even today, vendors constantly live in fear of police officers fining them or even confiscating their stands. A similar message resides in recent actions by cops who routinely drove the homeless population out of their homes, confiscated relief supplies and donated houses and beat residents. The efforts of “beautifiers,” however, don’t actually deter the market — they only make the environment of those selling food or goods more dangerous. City officials have more pressing matters than driving vendors out in order to make room for wider streets with more spacious sidewalks. The innovation of small, family-owned sidewalk businesses is repeatedly erased as they are prevented from obtaining some of the only jobs they can.
A permit system may be an effective solution to send a more compassionate message toward the city’s vendors. An expanded food inspection system along with actual permits for vendors may help businesses ensure checks on quality. For a business with such large economic activity, a wholesale ban on permits only makes paths toward economic empowerment more difficult. Licensing fees or expanded designated areas for vendors may resolve alleged garbage problems that some tenants raise.
It seems obvious that a ban on street vending in Los Angeles is an attempt at the erasure of an indelible part of the city. The city must take into account thriving businesses that not only foster vibrant street cultures but also provide critical support for mostly immigrant families. Understanding the people and businesses behind the pushcarts may be more important than the sight of sidewalk congestion and competition.
Andy, how many times have you ate from a street vendor, especially a Hispanic one? When I was a student here, at USC, during home football games they’d be everywhere. One time, as I was waiting on the light where Hoover meets Jefferson, there was a vendor selling “Tijuana dogs” as we pejoratively called them. And this white chick, who I presume was an SC student, asks the vendor in a patronizing way, “What are these? What’s in it?” instead of just diving in, and trying one. So are you like this chick, who’s too squeamish to eat a “Tijuana dog” but likes to finger wag about helping the poor out, or do you support them by buying their items?
Nice insightful article because we must finally face the fact that immigrants and minorities are increasingly a major force in America. They and the children they bear account for 60 percent of our nation’s population growth, own 11 percent of US businesses, and are 60 percent more likely to start a new business than native-born Americans. In fact, forty percent of Fortune 500 companies were started by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant, creating 10 million jobs and seven out of ten top brands in our country.
More importantly, the vast majority of these human beings—both legal and undocumented—come to improve their lives and create a foundation of success for their children to build upon, bringing skills and a willingness to work hard to make their dreams a reality, something our founders did four hundred years ago, and something we would do today if we were in their shoes.
Theodore Roosevelt: “We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.”
However, most struggle in their efforts and need guidance in Anytown, USA. Perhaps intelligent immigration reform, White House/Congress and business/labor cooperation, concerned citizens and informative books can extend a helping hand, the same unwavering hand, lest we forget, that has been the anchor and lighthouse of American values for four hundred years.
One new award-winning worldwide book/ebook that reaches out to help immigrants, int’l students and minorities and is endorsed by ambassadors, educators, and editors is “What Foreigners Need To Know About America From A To Z: How to Understand Crazy American Culture, People, Government, Business, Language and More.”
Here’s a closing quote from the book’s Intro: “With all of our cultural differences though, you’ll be surprised to learn how much…we as human beings have in common on this little third rock from the sun. After all, the song played at our Disneyland parks around the world is ‘It’s A Small World After All.’ Peace.”