LA's sluggish economy spurs debate on legalized street vending

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Sep 9, 2014

LA's sluggish economy spurs debate on legalized street vending

With L.A.'s economy flagging in recent years, more people have taken to street vending. Now, officials are debating if street vending should be made legal.

With L.A.'s economy flagging in recent years, more people have taken to street vending. Now, officials are debating if street vending should be made legal.

With the economy in Los Angeles flagging in recent years, more people have taken to the streets to sell goods, such as food and homemade commodities,.

This has led officials to a debate on whether street vending should be made legal, according to an L.A. Times report.

Host Alex Cohen spoke to Rudy Espinoza, an urban planner and executive director of Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN). It’s part of a coalition working to create a permit system for sidewalk vending.

"We believe that the system should be an affordable system that is reasonable so that folks can actually access this resource, but it should be one also that considers other small businesses in our neighborhoods," he said.