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Jul

26

Streets for All Foodies

Filed Under Uncategorized 

Courtesy of The New York Public Library, via Flickr

Last month, we posted an open letter to Seattle’s City Council in support of more progressive street food policy.  We believe active, pedestrian-friendly streets are essential to a safe and vital city so we published a detailed endorsement of the proposed mobile food vending ordinance.

In the meantime, CHS canvassed Broadway and has published some great reporting on the thoughts of restaurateurs in the area and today, Slog’s Riya Bhattacharjee weighs in with some international perspective.

We think its a healthy debate on a meaty topic and we hope the City Council is cooking up something wonderful!

More to Eat on the Street

Posted by Riya Bhattacharjee on Mon, Jul 26, 2010

If you think Seattle’s street food scene isn’t as cool as New York’s or Portland’s, you’re not alone. Folks at the City of Seattle agree. In fact the Seattle Department of Planning and Development is trying (.pdf) to roll out more food vendors on the city’s sidewalks and parks with the consent of the City Council. The Downtown District Council is hosting a public workshop at City Hall today at 5:00 p.m. to talk about a proposed street-food initiative. So if you want to quip about how much you love Marination Mobile, Maximus Minimus ,or the taco truck in your hood, this is your chance.

Currently food trucks are only allowed to park on private property (only hot dogs, coffee, and pop corn can be heated and served on the sidewalk), in Seattle, which results in turf wars and perhaps even haggling for space with a property owner. DPD planner Gary Johnson—who totally gets it—told me that he wants to change Seattle’s street food system to Portland’s. Yes! Finally someone who understands the joy of having some 580 cheap and tasty licensed food trucks mobilized all over the city. Council Member Sally Clark also gets it. “We are trying to figure out what are the rules that keep food carts from being really successful,” says Clark, a self-confessed street food fan. Except for the hot dog carts, Seattle doesn’t have food vendors selling smoothies, sandwiches, and fresh food, Clark says, because of existing health code rules. The Health Department is considering lifting the restrictions to allow “assembly of pre-cooked ingredients.” She adds, “The new codes will provide start up business opportunities and turn sidewalks into more interesting places. The flip side is litter and less room for wheelchairs.” More…

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