Blogs

In April I blogged about an attempt by Los Angeles County to lower the boom on taco truck operators by making them liable for fines up to $1000 for staying in any one spot for more than a hour. http://openair.org/node/416

This week a Los Angeles Superior Court judge invalidated the County's ordinance, finding it unconstitutionally vague. This is not the first time that an ordinance purporting to regulate conduct in public space has been held void for vagueness. In 1972 a Jacksonville, Florida vagrancy ordinance was held to be unconstitutionally vague by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville. That city's vagrancy ordinance provided:

I recently returned from a two week stay in La Paz, Bolivia. I grew up back and forth between the U.S. and Bolivia but it had been over 10 years since my last visit so the difference between my two home countries felt more pronounced than ever. One key difference that will forever resonate with me is the use and definition of public space.

I have been uneasy about the title public space in the U.S. for sometime, but didn’t fully understand why until I returned to Bolivia. One issue is that in the U.S. our public spaces often feel more like leisure space, designed for relaxation, recreation and beauty. We rarely see utilitarian shared spaces as being public. For example, sidewalks and streets are not often considered public as much as shared for the purpose of transporting ourselves to nearby places efficiently. These utilitarian shared spaces, since they are not fully regarded as public, are subject to even greater regulations of use.

The City of Laguna Beach is buying property where a day labor center has been in operation for more than a decade. According to a July 24, 2008 LA Times story, there are no plans by the city to shut down the center, which it has subsidized for several years. The center enjoyed use of the land rent free for years, until the California Department of Transportation ("Cal Trans") discovered that it was the rightful owner and demanded compensation. Laguna Beach then began paying Cal Trans $420 a month in rent. Now the city is ponying up $18,000 to buy it lock, stock, and barrel.

In the grand scheme of things, that's not a lot of money. But one can't help but wonder if these costs could have been avoided if the city had chosen simply to designate a stretch of sidewalk or roadside as an appropriate place for soliciting day labor work and nothing more. Building a center undoubtedly attracted the attention of the state.

La Vida Locavore is the blog for anyone whose crazy life includes planting, growing, weeding, fertilizing, raising, picking, harvesting, processing, cooking, baking, making, serving, buying, selling, distributing, transporting, composting, organizing around, lobbying about, writing about, thinking about, talking about, playing with, and eating food!

Check it out!

Recent research by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and the UCLA School of Public Policy indicates how important street vendors and markets are for promoting health.

The RWJF report lauds markets for providing fresh and inexpensive produce to underserved populations. The report says that markets are "a promising way to increase fruit
and vegetable consumption among low-income families," but it also cautions that "limited transportation
alternatives in some urban areas may still hinder many families’ ability to
access farmers’ markets."

Planners and Policy makers need to build on the legislative initiatives discussed in this report, found at:

http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/balance122007.pdf

It is patently clear that sustainability, economic and community development, placemaking and other important goals are served by creating markets. Partnerships should be crafted, including public and private organizations, in enhancing food security and addressing public health by way of public markets.

With regard urban economic development James Rojas Goetz editorialized for planning report about the important role street vendors play in community life. It is ironic that street merchants under attack in LA are seen as one of the city's best tools for addressing a number of public problems. See the report at: