I could start a vending business on the streets of New York City tomorrow.
I could start a vending business on the streets of New York City tomorrow.
I never have understood why barbers have to be licensed. If they are good at it, they will have repeat customers, if they are bad at it, soon enough they will be out of business.
Street vendors give a city a real Third-World look. Regulating activities on public streets is actually one of the few legitimate functions of any government. You can’t have a well-functioning city if you have merchants paying rent in a storefront while they compete against vendors who can camp out up the street and pay no rent at all.
One thing I noticed when I went to Hong Kong in the late 80s was I didn’t see one beggar, but street vendors were everywhere. People set up hibachis and cooked meat skewers, sold ties, all kinds of stuff. Vastly preferable to the panhandlers in US cities.
Tampa loves Food Trucks...
The street vendors in Olongapo had the best monkey meat. Yumm!
A couple sells food off the sidewalk. They do it for enough years that they can afford a truck. Now they sell food out of the truck. Eventually they make enough money to rent out a restaurant.
But their dreams are shattered because there are now swarms of trucks and street vendors selling similar food for much less. The only thing the restaurateurs have to offer is a comfortable place to sit while eating a more expensive meal.
If they actually come up with something new like a teriyaki-tamale, then that idea is taken up by a venture capitalist and turned into a thousand Chipotle wannabes overnight.