Blogs

I’m so happy to be blogging about public markets, one of my favorite things in life, something that I would have trouble living without. Originally from Los Angeles and now living in New Delhi, India for at least two years, I’m a CUSO-VSO Canada volunteer, http://www.cuso-vso.org/. I will be working for the National Trust, http://thenationaltrust.in/, an Indian governmental organization that works with people living with disabilities. The Trust has over 800 partner organizations throughout India and I will be helping them with fundraising. I was last in India in 2006 as a tourist. I had wanted to come back to live and kept rupees in my wallet for the day that I would return!

I’ve been a market “nut” or “fruit” or “veggie” for over 20 years, having first come into contact with markets when I worked for the City of Oakland-Office Of Economic Development and Employment in 1987 when I became the Market Manager for the Housewives Market, now located in the Swan’s Marketplace http://www.swansmarket.com/. I was very fortunate in being able to attend the very first PPS Public Market Conference in 1987 in Seattle and since that time I’ve beenPassionate About Markets. Throughout the years, I’ve also attended many other public market conferences and seminars.

For Immediate Release: March 23, 2009

Maxwell Street Maybe Has Already Moved to 41st and Ashland

By Steve Balkin, Roosevelt University at Chicago,
Email: sbalkin@roosevelt.edu
Webpage: http://faculty.roosevelt.edu/Balkin/maxwell.htm

Like a frog slowly dying in gradually hotter water, the New Maxwell Street Market has been killed off by City Hall and Aldermanic indifference, ineptness, and ignorance. But before being boiled, multitudes of vendors have voted with their feet to go elsewhere, mainly to the Swap O Rama Flea Market on 41st and Ashland, where fees are lower and management is more skilled.

Empty vendor spaces abound on Des Plaines Street on Sunday, the new site of the New Maxwell Street Market. And the Blues musicians have disappeared too. The explanation is basic textbook economics, higher fees, stifling regulators, and mismanagement. The Mayor’s Office of Special Events now runs the Market with Jam Productions as their highly paid co-conspirators. Neither of them know how to run a grassroots community public market and, it seems, neither of them want to learn.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is used by business and government to classify and measure economic activity in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Office of Management and Budget’s Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC) announced it is soliciting proposals from the public for changes to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) structure and content to be included in a potential 2012 revision.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US WHO WORK ON MARKETS AND MERCHANTS. Merchants were once a census occupation category and right now we cannot disaggregate from existing categories to know what is happening in the "street" economy.

I have a draft of a letter to NAICS which could help you in your comment.

You can see the call here: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-60.pdf

If you are interested in collaborating on comments about NAICS, in particular, comments about markets and merchants, please contact me.

San Francisco - April - see the attachment! see you there!

I received this email today from Nikhil, one of the undergraduates applying for money to start a new market in STL:

Thanks you very much for your letter of recommendation. It has helped us become selected as finalists for the grant! We will be giving presentations to the committee on April 3rd and plan on doing more interviews and research up until then.

Thanks again and I hope the flu has finally left you alone!

- Nikhil Agrawal

LETS HOPE THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL IN THAT PRESENTATION!