What are your opinions about the street vendors?

What are they supposed to live on? Fresh air? How else are they going to feed themselves, put a roof over their heads? I admire them, they should be rewarded and valued and not seen as a menace. The people would soon be up in arms if they all turned to thieving, but no they are generally trying to earn an honest living by working!

It depends. Most of the street vendors in my country tend to sell really cheap bad quality stuff or what they got on the Internet, for about 4-8 times more expensive. Especially those who I see are quite well-off (they have smartphones, they are in gangs, they wear more expensive stuff than I do). But if I find something nice, I'm gonna buy from them and support them.

I don't have any problem with these street vendors, it is true that they just want to make a decent living by working hard, the officer shouldn't pick on them for a small infraction. He can just give them a verbal warning or just a ticket for selling without any license. It is no need to take away their products and equipments, it is a violation of their rights and total disregard of the due process and rule of law in any nation. May be this officer is so unprofessional that he can't understand that the street vendor also has rights to a fair and speedy trial in court if they are accused of breaking the traffic law. This street vendor may not know the proper procedure he need go through in order to sell products on the street legally, he is just a new and uninformed vendor, i personally think the action taken against him is too harsh, after all, he is not even a criminal that try to poison or rob people on the street, let's cut him loose this time.

We have many here in Mexico. Everything is sold on many corners here. i like them alot. As their prices here are always much cheaper than markets or rest. We get foods, and everything else from street vendors here in mx.

Hi! I am not against those street vendors , my heart goes for them. Imagine the sacrifice they are taking just to have a little income to feed several mouths. The heat of the sun , the dust that they are inhaling, the risk being in the street , the drops of the rain , these all they experienced ! Then police officer still can afford to catch them then throw their goods. These all they experienced , then can the government not consider them ? They are not lawbreakers , they are just looking for money . They are doing their best that though very poor , can still make a way for life with high dignity. I saw a poster somewhere , where it shows two sides of life , in the right side of the picture is the old woman with her grand daughter selling farm products. The other side is the picture of the vegetables section , seems all kinds of fruits , vegetables and livestock . Below the picture was a message saying , please buy the products of this grandma and her grand daughter , money will be used in buying basic needs of the family and don't buy in malls where their income is just for traveling around the world.

many people said that if you buy food on street you don't know if their are good or not, what i mean some of the food they sell might contaminated but as a question for every one are you sure or how sure you are that and resto or fast food are not contaminated too as i already work before and resto also same and fast food as a working student and i see how they prepared some kind of food it sound like LOL

Well i use to be sympathetic to the street vendors too, till i got the real picture by actually visiting them once in a while. Let me tell you how it is done here, Those arrogant street vendors doesn't even know how to behave with the customers, they ask for prices on stupid non branded materials just as much as branded stuffs in the mall. No one is stupid enough to buy them with such over priced tag and when people bargain and decide not to buy them, they just force them saying that since they bargained they have to buy it. Not to mention the fact that they take up all the pavement with their stupid shops leaving people to walk on the road, increasing health hazard. So yes, I think what the police did was exactly right. There are always other means of earning monies than doing business, and if you cannot do business according to the law then might as well stop doing it.

We usually only have street vendors here during certain celebrations. I am sure they have to get a permit or license to participate and reserve a space. We then have a section of street closed off for them to set up their carts to sell to all the people who come to celebrate and participate. The city provides them with the space and lots of trash cans so that their customers do not have to litter. I do not know if your area could get organized so that it would be a good place both for the vendors and the others who are their customers and the regular citizens of the area.

In our nearest city, street vendors do have to be licensed, and I believe, inspected by the health department. To curb interference with traffic, the city has set aside areas where they can set up legally.

We have some vendors but they have to have licenses. I thing we also have the truck caterers too. But all have to have a license. We also have a fruit stands in the Summer and they sell christmas trees and wreaths in the Winter. Vendors downtown on the corners sell hotdogs.

Well in a way I understand your point and would support them but only to the point where they cause no hinderance to the public. Otherwise they have their stalls in places where the stall and the customers who come there, their vehicles could cause havoc for the flow of traffic apart from the fact that there would be a lot of garbage generated which may or may not be dispossed off properly making the area dirty.

I understand that they need to make a living, but what about those who actually have stalls and pay for the permits and sell on the designated places so they do not restrict traffic? Those who clean their stalls, they also need to make a living. And they're the ones who are doing it the right way. The sidewalk vendors occupy the sidewalks so people have to brave walking The actual roads since there's no more safe place for them to walk in. And if accidents occur do these sidewalk vendors even care? Do they even care if they are polluting and making a lot of trash? No because all they care about is earning money the cheapest and fastest way possible. I don't think that is fair. And by buying from them, we are just encouraging more and more people to abandon doing it the legal way and just sell their ware even in places that they shouldn't.

I sugguest you to go to the street and do the work of street cleaners for several days.Then i am sure you can view this issue from a different way.Have you ever think of the feeling of street cleaners when they see the swept road was again full of fruit peel thrown by the street vendors.

here in my town in mexico you have to get a permit to sell anything and thast could be something your area need to look at

What you say is right youless! But if street vendors spread their wares in busy streets then it is likely to be a problem.

they are nice but the thing is cost is only low and other than that more no of germs and harmful things enter our body,so i hate it

Yeah, sometimes I feel pity for them because officers drive them away like nothing and they just there to earn for a living but they do not have any choice but to follow those officers. I think the government should do something about this issues. You are, right, they do not have a right amount of capital to start for their own business in a permanent place.

its true, they do face a many problems from the officers concerning their license issues. but we need to happy that at least they are doing something without begging or indulging in illegal activities. I personally think the government needs to figure something out for these people. these vendors pay bribes to the officers to let them be. but these foods are some way or the other hazardous to our health too. apart from this the taste is what that makes us keep going back to the same place over and over again... the thought of it itself is making me hungry.. i will go grab a snack for myself. you have a nice day....!!! :)

Here in Shanghai there are also many sidewalk vendors, even in the city center. If I happened to want to buy something that vendor is selling, I probably would think it's so convenient. If I were driving through a place with many sidewalk vendors, I would hate their guts. Besides, vendors don't pay taxes or clear up before they are gone. It benefits certain amount of people, but annoys a lot more people.So I'd rather buy small stuff online.

I live in in a third world country where sidewalk vendors can be seen almost everywhere. Once I got into a jeepney on the way to school, and there were street vendors on their way to the city. They had sacks of fruit with them, and I overheard them chatting about how difficult it is to be a street vendor and to feed a family and how policemen are so strict. I was moved to pity. I think that yes, they must follow the law. And that yes, maybe it's not right for them to sell out there in the streets. But do they like what they're doing? No! They're doing what they do because they have to survive and because they have no other way of earning a living. Maybe it's true that they're breaking the law, but only because they do not have the means to follow the law. Maybe instead of chasing them out of the streets, which leads them to fear authority more than feel that it can help them, the government should reach out to them. Give them proper places where they can sell. Give them other job opportunities instead of deprive them of the one of the few ways through which they can earn a living.