Graduation Year

2019

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Public Policy Analysis

Second Department

Economics

Reader 1

Eleanor Brown

Reader 2

David Menefee-Libey

Reader 3

Gilda Ochoa

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

2019 Karen M Alpuche Caceres

Abstract

This thesis aims to unpack the impact the legalization of street vending and the subsequent regulation had on sidewalk vendors. Although legalization occurred state-wide through Senate Bill 946 in September of 2017, the rules and regulations for vending were passed at a city-level, and I am focusing on the City of Los Angeles specifically. Through interviews with government officials, non-profit partners and advocates, and vendors from different parts of the City, I analyze information around the policy itself, its history, and the impact it has and is expected to have on vendors and their businesses. While vendors have been central to advocacy and the policy process, the creation of a permitting system in the City of Los Angeles has been less transparent. By interviewing stakeholders, relying on existing economic, political, and sociological literature, and gathering opinions from vendors themselves, I develop various policy recommendations to further empower vendors and integrate them into Los Angeles’ formal economy. I recommend a permitting model that is backward-mapped and stems from the needs of and feedback from vendors in order for it to be more aligned with the goals and needs of vendors themselves.

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