I know there are a very small handful, but lets get real. Philadelphia has street vendors on friggin every block. Why not Chicago?

What do you guys think?

Yes. Yes. And Yes. I was in NY last weekend and was reminded how fantastic they were. I know everyone's concerned about littering, but, the reason they're messy in NY is because you've got to go three blocks to find a trash can. If our vendors stuck to corners in the loop, they're guaranteed a spot right next to a garbage can!

I want shish-kabobs and hot-dogs on demand damnit!

I think street vendors are sorely lacking in Chicago. Every time I go to NYC, I think about how much my life be be benefited by having the vendors here, not just the push carts, but also the bodega's with flowers and produce on the sidewalks and the newspaper stands as well.
Aside from the local laws preventing it, I suspect that the winter weather is also a major factor in why they are not around. Let's face it, no vendor wants to schlepp a cart out onto the street to sell a few frozen hotdogs in January when it is 5 degrees outside, and five months of winter is just too long to for a business to survive with little or no revenue. Yes, NYC gets cold as well, but not to the degree that we do here.

^I guarantee you that if the city allowed it, immigrant vendors would come running! Regardless of the weather, people will do anything to make a decent buck.

Here's a thought--with downtown Chicago's growing population, and with more people living in highrises, do you guys think local laws will change?

As much as I like our benevolent dictator, Mayor Daley... I don't think he will be letting the likes of street vendors into the Loop any time soon.

Daley Plaza has vendors most of time.

I would love street vendors, seriously, that is something that I thought was great about NYC, I want my freakin' bagel cart.

I think that that's a pretty good idea. I think maybe it would be something to do for the fomeless people. To be honest there are too many homeless prople and beggers walknig and or sleeping up and down Michigan Avenue. I think that it looks tacky. And I don't mean to be mean, but it just doesn't look good.

To tell you the truth, I stay away from the street meat in New York too...

I don't know about anyone else, but, I'll be goddamned if I'm going to buy a hotdog from a homeless guy. When was the last time he washed his hands?

At any rate, does anyone know why we don't allow the vendors in the first place; because I certainly can't come up with one good reason?

Geoff, I mean give them an opportunity. Like if the city started some type of program it intergrate them into the "working class". The city could create some type of "super subsadised housing" where they payed a small portion of their earnings, but in order to live there, they must work.

People need a chance, and they would be trained. They'd need to have a sanitary license like the managers of fast food joints do. Besides, what makes you think the venders in New York wash their hands ofter? Do their carts have small sinks? Do they wear gloves?

^My honest opinion, based on the street vendors already in Chicago and in other cities, is that most of the vendors will be immigrants, not homeless people

to be honest...i dont know if it's a good idea...here in sao paulo, brazil, street vendors in downtown have totally messed up all streets..simply because there's not enough place to everybody...so there are a lot of illegal street vendors that just block our way, block street stores...and there are too many...police can not handle with all those people...there is often some fight with police x street vendors...despite all this, we never know the source of all things they sell... i really dont like street vendors here...all the streets are dirty... i think chicago laws would have to be very strict to manage them...
but i dont know, that's just my opinion from what i've seen here

We've already got loads of pushcart vendors, I'm pretty sure they all have to has some sort of licence to operate, don't they?

There is a city ordinance here in Chicago that prevents push-cart vendors from operating in the Loop. . .

ah... I was curious as to why I saw them all over my neighborhood, but never downtown.

bvic - these people have been given chance enough. There are damn good shelters ALL over Chicago, and the only stipulation to stay there is that you've got to be drug/alcohol free. Because that is too much of a chore for most homeless, they choose, instead, to flop all over downtown - bothering people and littering all the while. I apologize for what I am sure is an unpopular opinion; but, I'm sick and tired of it. I spent two days in NY last week and wasn't approached by one single person asking me for anything; when I returned to Chicago, I was hit up for money/cigarettes/whatever no less than 10 times between Midway and my apartment door.

bvic - these people have been given chance enough. There are damn good shelters ALL over Chicago, and the only stipulation to stay there is that you've got to be drug/alcohol free. Because that is too much of a chore for most homeless, they choose, instead, to flop all over downtown - bothering people and littering all the while. I apologize for what I am sure is an unpopular opinion; but, I'm sick and tired of it. I spent two days in NY last week and wasn't approached by one single person asking me for anything; when I returned to Chicago, I was hit up for money/cigarettes/whatever no less than 10 times between Midway and my apartment door.

if you think we got it bad here in chicago, go visit SF again. now that's a city with a homeless problem.

I think every city of decent size should have street vendors, as long as they are reasonable regulated. There are places where it can be overwhelming, and it shouldnt take over the street (unless it is a designated marketplace). I think it should be encouraged for three reasons:
1. quality of life issue--it brings the public back the streets, can encourage walking, and generally adds to the life of the city. When I see pictures of city streets, invariably the most inviting (and safest) are those with lots of people. More eyes that way.
2. Economic development issue--This is a way for people with little or no capital of their own to start a small business that can provide for ownership and decent standard of living
3. Equity issue--drawing on the second, street vendors can be part of a more democratic economic structure, where small vendors can expand into more established types of commerce--say, from street vendors, to city/neighborhood markets, then into established shops, etc.

The last two could revitalize small commercial business in this country--increasing this number of points of entry into commerce (by not requiring so much start up capital, and by making more opportunities available) and widening access to goods.

"Should downtown Chicago have street vendors?"

Only if they sell Khlav Kalash and Crab Juice.

I don't know what those things are STR, but, they both sound gross :)

^^ you never heard of a street vendor?????????????????

I don't know what those things are STR, but, they both sound gross :)

You never saw the episode of the Simpson where Barney take's Homer's car, abandons it right in the middle of the World Trade Center's plaza, and while Homer is waiting for the cop that will remove the boot from the car, a street vendor offers him Khlav Kalash and Crab Juice?

"Bathroom out of order. Please use other Tower."

I am reminded of the recent 'cartoon edition' of the New Yorker (yes, I read the New Yorker, my grandparents had a subscription to it and when I was a teenager I fondly remember leafing through it on bored afternoons at their house) in which a cartoon depicted a street vendor selling "Things on a Stick" to eager children ... of course looking at the wares of some of my local pushcart guys (I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to try elotes on a hot summer day... shudder), I can see how one might be inspired to create such a cartoon.