Los Angelenos have turned street vending into a $500 million industry, according to the Economic Roundtable. Most cities would welcome 50,000 thriving small businesses, but the L.A. government has long treated them as a public nuisance that deserves punishment. The good news is that the City Council is moving forward with a proposal to make such entrepreneurship legal.
Street vending was a misdemeanor crime until recently, and workers could be arrested for selling sunglasses, tamales, lemonade or other wares on L.A. streets...