Jun

3

Open Letter to Seattle City Council

Filed Under Food System, walking, Zoning 

Dear Seattle City Councilmembers,

Great City firmly believes that active, pedestrian-friendly streets are essential to a safe and vital city. To that end, we are excited about the opportunities mobile food vending can bring to Seattle.

We see a multitude of benefits offered by mobile food vending, including:

Enhanced street life: Mobile food vending offers opportunities for people to use streets and sidewalks as public space, not merely as transportation corridors. Activity is created by the draw of economical and nutritious food and the potential for human exchange and interaction. In addition, mobile street vending has the possibility to extend the “normal” hours and season of street use, thereby increasing the sense of safety and comfort of all street users.

Economic opportunities: The economic opportunities provided by mobile food vending are two-fold – not only do they offer a relatively inexpensive entrée to business, particularly for immigrants, but the foot traffic they can bring to a street can increase the economic vitality of the areas and bring opportunity and value to all levels to commerce.

We support the proposed modifications to the existing ordinance which would diversify the types of food that can be sold, expand the permissible locations for food vending, facilitate a streamlined street use permitting process, improve public noticing requirements, and eliminate the 200’ park setback. Aside from theses administrative aspects/issues, we encourage adequate consideration to the logistical issues that will affect the day-to-day operation and functionality of the carts, especially where they are to be placed in more constricted public rights-of-way.

We strongly encourage your support of the proposed ordinance allowing mobile food vending in Seattle, and we look forward to seeing our streets grow more activated and dynamic.

Sincerely,

Joshua Curtis

Executive Director, Great City

Comments

3 Responses to “Open Letter to Seattle City Council”

  1. In support of mobile food vending « Walking in Seattle on June 16th, 2010 5:22 pm

    [...] City has written a letter to the city council in support of mobile food vending: Great City firmly believes that active, pedestrian-friendly streets are essential to a safe and [...]

  2. Streets for All Foodies : Great City on July 26th, 2010 8:43 pm

    [...] month, we posted an open letter to Seattle’s City Council in support of more progressive street food policy.  We believe [...]

  3. Mmmmmm edibile sustainability : Great City on November 8th, 2010 8:30 am

    [...] you may know, we love to talk about streetfood. We think that with thoughtful implementation, a more liberal streetfood policy could enliven streetscapes [...]

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