[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]hey are as much a part of the urban landscape in Los Angeles as Dodger Stadium and congestion on the 405 — the taco carts and tables smothered in toys and knock off handbags lining many streets in neighborhoods across the city.
But until today, sales on the street of anything from bacon-wrapped hot dogs to Mexican National flags were illegal, even though the law was rarely enforced.
After more than 10 years of back and forth debate about street vending, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday overwhelmingly to make it legal. The 13-0 vote came in a council chamber packed with hundreds of street vendors who broke into tears and shouts in Spanish of “we won, we won” after the vote was tabulated.
Other large cities in the country, such as Chicago and New York, have long legitimized street vending. L.A. – the city whose culinary identity is was basically created by street vendors – is finally catching up.