Can Los Angeles Support an Open Air Economy? : The opportunity of Al Fresco, Street Vending, and an equitable economy
By Rudy Espinoza, Executive Director
COVID-19 has changed all of our lives. Since 2020, many of us have seen firsthand how vulnerable our communities are. Too many families have been living one crisis away from economic chaos, and that “one crisis” has now lasted over two years. As we emerge from this crisis, we need new approaches to economic development that center our community members and local entrepreneurs.
In addition to the direct economic impacts that many are experiencing, a layer of caution has been added to how we engage with others. If we are meeting someone for dinner, we are likely prioritizing places with plenty of outdoor space. Although COVID-19 case numbers are down, we still might find ourselves hesitant to remove our masks in an indoor setting and while we are eager to spend time with others, we may be seeking options with ventilation, high vaccination rates and infrastructure to support mobility.
In some communities, marketplaces in public spaces have sprouted organically. In Los Angeles, a night market grew in an industrial section of Lincoln Heights, and in Cudahy, street vendors have created a similar destination for food and culture. While public marketplaces are not new, the pandemic has facilitated a renewed interest in outside gatherings. There is opportunity within these new experiences to leverage the entrepreneurial spirit of communities and our ample public space to attract economic opportunity for low-income workers who have been devastated by the pandemic. Using public spaces, like sidewalks, has also helped small businesses with the rapid launch of the “Al Fresco” program in Los Angeles that expedited permitting and commandeered parking spaces for outdoor seating to keep businesses alive. These responses worked and are still working.
This is why I was disappointed to see the City of Los Angeles move to require that businesses renew their “Al Fresco” sidewalk dining permits through the “old way” of approvals. Small businesses, many who are still struggling to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, face the prospect of a slow and expensive permitting process. This process is unfamiliar with the fact that many businesses are so financially vulnerable that even one day without outdoor seating can determine if they can keep their business open. This move is a step backward, and reminds us that in many cases, our cities have shifted their goals from serving people to serving an entrenched process. These decisions keep us away from a vision of a City that encourages an entrepreneurial spirit and welcomes ideas to revitalize commercial corridors.
At Inclusive Action, we believe that public spaces offer an important opportunity for us to recover from the pandemic; our streets, vacant lots, and sidewalks offer a roadmap for how public investments can support an equitable recovery. This vision is engrained in a framework we call the “Open Air Economy;” it centers the experiences of micro-entrepreneurs and low-income workers who have long been an integral part of the vibrancy of cities all over the world.
The Open Air Economy (OAE) is an economic system that leverages public space and public infrastructure to support an equitable economy. This vision recognizes that the public realm can and should serve multiple uses. Public spaces and public infrastructure like sidewalks, roads, parks, plazas, medians, and more can be used not only for one passive purpose, they can facilitate education, commerce, and public health.
The inspiration for this vision is the street vendor, a microcosm of the urban economy that is found in every major city across the world. In the United States, street vendors are largely low-income, immigrant workers who, unable to find a livable wage in the formal economy, and create businesses that can be operated on the public right of way - a city sidewalk, a plaza, or even a vacant lot. Street vendors sell a variety of things from clothing and household supplies, to pre-packaged products and prepared food.
Street food vendors are some of the most iconic entrepreneurs in major cities like Los Angeles and New York City. Indeed, many scholars and urbanists tout “world class” cities as those that facilitate street vending and characteristics of an open air economy. Studies have described the direct economic impact they have on their neighborhoods, and qualitatively, many have seen the integral role that street vendors play in complementing other businesses, keeping streets safe, and preserving culture.
Unfortunately, our society does not always recognize the value of street vendors. As the pandemic gripped our world and as leaders mobilized to encourage outdoor eating, street vendors, the originators of open air eating and takeout, were criminalized further. In Los Angeles, just three months after a new permit system was established (it being the result of years of advocacy by local organizations and street vendors), unlicensed street vendors were banned and threatened with criminal penalties if caught working.
I believe we have to take a discerning look at the opportunity before us; a sector that consists of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs who risk harassment, citations, and even arrest to build a small business to care for themselves and their families. This grit and perseverance presents what could be a consistent and strong foundation for thriving local economies that not only support the street vendors themselves, but also brick-and-mortar businesses, and larger industries. By pursuing an Open Air Economy, we can honor the entrepreneurs in our community and ensure that economic development is inclusive.
This emerging framework has three major investment priorities:
An Open Air Economy Invests in People - The vast majority of street vendors, micro-entrepreneurs and low wage workers are struggling to cover their basic needs. One missed day of work can seriously set back many street vendors; a recent survey of street vendors in Los Angeles showcased the tremendous need that these micro-entrepreneurs had during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s critical that we invest in micro-entrepreneurs, not merely as business owners, but as tenants, parents, students, and more. A strategy that uplifts the Open Air Economy must also uplift movements taking place all over the country to establish strong tenant protections, de-commodify housing, and invest in guaranteed income programs. Investing in entrepreneurs requires us to invest in the “whole” person, not simply the portion of their lives that generates financial revenue. If we don’t, we will lose the opportunity to engage hard-working, visionary leaders in our community.
An Open Air Economy Invests in Infrastructure - An Open Air Economy not only supports street vendors themselves, but also the constellation of industries that work and are supported by street vendors along with brick-and-mortar businesses that surround them. An Open Air Economy requires a comprehensive look at how the public and private sector can work together to dedicate resources to ensure that we are also building an environment where commercial kitchens and “ghost kitchens” can be permitted and financed for use by street vendors, kitchen managers, and aspiring entrepreneurs, where cart manufacturers and commissaries can utilize vacant industrial parcels to bring together engineers and welders to build innovative carts that facilitate the sale of cultural foods and protect public health. Some analysts believe that ghost kitchens and their operations will make up a $1 trillion economy within 10 years and infamous tech leaders like Peter Thiel and Travis Kalanick have raised millions to invest in development. Our public sector should also prioritize investments here, helping local entrepreneurs and community-based organizations acquire land to build and maintain facilities for our beloved sidewalk entrepreneurs. And since resources are already being aligned to fix our aging sidewalks and public spaces, consideration should be made to ensure that repairs are supporting multiple uses, including vending.
An Open Air Economy Invests in Tools - To invest in people and infrastructure, an Open Air Economy requires different “tools,” especially if our investments aim to center the needs of the most vulnerable and historically neglected. Currently, there is a very limited amount of financial products available to support micro-entrepreneurs who need the working capital to participate in the formal economy. Usurious lenders, like pay-day loan establishments are still a primary source of urgent capital for many Black and brown entrepreneurs in low-income communities.
Information and engagement efforts must also be much more robust. In Los Angeles, the language capacity of public permit systems are remedial, and enforcement of our current systems confuse law enforcement officials and street vendors alike. If our goal is to bring people into our systems, we must design these systems in a way that centers those we want to reach.
I am hopeful for the future. This past year, Inclusive Action and a coalition of organizations passed the ground-breaking Senate Bill 972 which creates a more reasonable pathway for street food vendors to get their food permits. On the heels of this victory, community-based organizations are working with County officials to educate street vendors and businesses about new rules and regulations. The CA Street Vendor Campaign is already beginning to reach out to organizations across the state to train them on the opportunity of these new laws in order to ensure that stakeholders are able to fully reap the benefits of this important legislation.
We expect re-design of our systems and implementation of new laws to take time, but with intention, we can ensure our communities are defining the people-centric goals, and letting go of systems from an era that stifled equity and economic opportunity. As Los Angeles reviews how to make sidewalk dining permanent, it considers the experiences of all types of businesses while recognizing that if we adopt an overarching vision of an Open Air Economy, we can bring everyone to economic prosperity.