Food Truck Vendors in Portland, OR

Background

Although food trucks and food carts have long been a staple of Portland culture, following the economic downturn in fall 2008, a vibrant street food scene began really taking hold in Portland, Oregon. While popular culture – from food shows on cable television to movie stars like Brad Pitt supporting sustainable and local food choices – had a big roll in this development, the key element was the City of Portland’s relatively lenient mobile food vending regulations, low permit fees and provision of technical assistance to entrepreneurs. There are currently between 450 and 500 food carts operating in Portland – an increase of approximately 40% in the last 2 years.

The carts are set up in parking lots, vacant lots, sidewalks, and even in parks. Many of the carts are located near downtown. Although food carts might be located singly, they can often be found in large groups called a pod. They have limited hours, little to no seating, and their menus are typically minimal. Therefore, they do not compete with traditional restaurants. Sometimes a chef will use a food cart to introduce, develop, or refine recipes to be used in a separate brick-and-mortar restaurant. This type of food cart outreach also allows customers to taste test menu items without the expense of time and tip involved in trying a full-service restaurant. Food carts complement brick-and-mortar restaurants, providing another level of food experience and attracting spenders to other retail or restaurants nearby.

Food cart support and regulation comes from a number of agencies, including the Portland Bureau of Transportation (when located within the right-of-way), the City of Portland Bureau of Development Services, Multnomah County Health Department and Portland Fire and Rescue.

Other independent groups study and promote Portland’s food carts, including the Urban Vitality Group and CARTopia (Rodgers and Roy 2010). The Urban Vitality Group is a group of Portland State University graduate students who partnered with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning to study the effects of food carts on street vitality and livability. CARTopia, written by Kelley Roy and Kelly Rodgers, documents Portland’s food cart revolution. Both the Urban Vitality Group and CARTopia indicate that food carts foster social interaction and walkability in the public realm, provide interim uses for vacant lots, and create opportunities for individuals to establish their own businesses with minimal capital.

Other cities are now following Portland’s lead. Seattle is considering the removal of vending prohibitions to encourage mobile food vending on public right-of-ways and underutilized lots. Boston has offered mobile food vending workshops and hosted a Food Truck Challenge to select mobile food vendors for Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Other areas like Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City all have popular street food scenes. Food trucks can also be found in cities across the country, including Denver, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis and Atlanta.

There are several key elements in place that guide Portland’s mobile food carts:

1. Public realm food cart regulations:
   • Food carts are only allowed within commercial zones.
   • Carts must not block pedestrian traffic on sidewalks.
   • Only one vending cart is allowed for an operating area (an “operating area” is the sidewalk from the midpoint of one block face to the midpoint of an adjacent block face).
   • A vendor’s immediate operating area cannot exceed 24 square feet of the sidewalk.
   • The vendor is responsible for all litter and garbage within 25 feet of the business.
   • Vending carts may not remain on the sidewalk between midnight and 6:00 a.m.
2. Private realm food cart regulations (often clustered in pods):
   • Carts 16 feet long or less and on wheels: Considered utility trailers; no permit is required for cart itself.
   • Carts longer than 16 feet on wheels: Considered a heavy truck; not allowed in some zones.
   • Any cart without wheels: Zoning regulations apply and building permits are required.
3. All food carts are required to operate under the same health and safety guidelines as restaurants and to receive inspections twice a year.

In addition, the Urban Vitality Group’s report makes a few additional key recommendations:

1. Promote innovative street design elements that support food carts, such as seating, shelter, landscaping, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.
2. Ensure an adequate supply of trash cans near food trucks.
3. Sponsor a design competition to incorporate food cart uses on sites.
4. Continue to support diversity in design regulations.
5. Identify additional locations for food carts.
6. Increase awareness of informational resources and connect micro-entrepreneurs with existing programs, such as Mercycorp NW, Hacienda CDC, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Portland Development Commission, and VOZ Day Labor Center.

Although there is no revenue for the City of Portland unless the food cart grosses more than $50,000 a year, the city benefits from revitalized urban spaces, neighborhood vitality, increased tourism and developing entrepreneurs. For Portland, the presence of food carts has helped activate previously vacant parcels of land, minimizing gaps in the social fabric, which like weak points in a piece of cloth can sometimes tear apart a strong and vibrant commercial area. Mobile food vending has also helped encourage pedestrian use of streets, and it has helped promote social interaction in the public realm. Together these elements create a scene that is attractive to visitors far and wide and helps encourage tourism. Food vending carts have also increased opportunities for lower income individuals, which has helped buoy the community against the lagging national economy.

Lessons Learned
Potential Benefits:

• Revitalizes urban spaces and strengthens neighborhood vitality.
• Helps activate previously vacant parcels of land and dead sidewalks, minimizing gaps in the social fabric.
• Encourages pedestrian use of streets and promote social interaction in the public realm.
• Helps encourage tourism.
• Develops entrepreneurs.
• Increases economic opportunities for lower income individuals, which has helped buoy the community against the lagging national economy.

Potential Issues:

• Permanent location: Ensure food carts can maintain a mobile business status, while also providing a somewhat permanent location.
• Waste disposal and wastewater: Waste disposal and wastewater are two key issues that need to be addressed and regulated.
• Key elements in promoting mobile food vending: Looser regulations, lower permit fees and the provision of technical assistance are key aids in helping to promote mobile food vending.

Food Cart Vendors, Cesar Chavez Street, Los Angeles, CA

Background

East Cesar Chavez Avenue between I-10 and Evergreen Avenue is commonly considered to be the Main Street of the Boyle Heights neighborhood in East Los Angeles. Considered to be one of the first suburbs of Los Angeles, Boyle Heights is a neighborhood east of Downtown Los Angeles. For much of the twentieth century, Boyle Heights was a gateway for new immigrants. This resulted in diverse demographics, including Jewish American, Japanese American and Mexican American populations, as well as Russian American and Yugoslav populations. Today the neighborhood is populated mostly by working class Latinos.

From its very beginnings, Cesar Chavez Avenue has served as the commercial and social heart of this suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles.The corridor bursts with activity and life. In addition to the continuous edge of general stores, markets, restaurants and locally serving businesses, the street has a rich and diverse range of street vendors and mariachis that make the streetscape seem like a lively open market – a place where people like to congregate, buy and sell things. Despite the fact that the existing sidewalks and street elements, such as trees, lighting and seating do not appropriately serve the pedestrians and formal and informal community uses, the street is much loved by the community and a great source of commerce.

The organic evolution of the street and the various commercial uses serves as a great example of how the street ROW of an arterial road can be maximized for formal and informal retail opportunities, and provide much needed entrepreneurial jobs for the people who live and work in the area. This also helps maintain the affordable character of the neighborhood that is critical to its residents.

The right-of-way of Cesar Chavez is 80 feet wide. Designated as a major arterial road, the street has two lanes of traffic in either direction and serves a high volume of through and destination traffic every day. On-street parking on either side of the roadway provides a much needed amenity to adjoining businesses. The sidewalks are approximately 12 feet wide on both ends of the street. Most people in the area do not own cars. Besides carrying heavy foot traffic, the sidewalks are actively used for a wide variety of commercial activities such as:

• Outdoor dining for adjoining cafes and restaurants.
• Outdoor display space for adjoining land uses that sell garments, produce, electronics, etc.
• Mobile food carts that cook and serve freshly made food and drinks.
• Mobile retail carts that serve flowers, books, audio devices, etc.
• Performance spaces for musicians, especially mariachis.

In addition, the parking lane is used by taco trucks and other vendors to sell various items. The corridor is also well served by transit, including local and express buses. Some transit stops have been customized to reflect the community history and culture.

Although the right-of-way is quite constrained, the corridor carries a fair amount of regional and destination traffic while still serving as a great place for commercial activities. Besides serving the adjoining formal land uses, the street and the sidewalk environment has continuously evolved to meeting the changing demographics and needs of the community users. Its stable and continuously evolving commercial environment has helped attract individuals and businesses.

Lessons Learned
Potential Benefits:

• Includes a variety of formal and informal retail opportunities that also provide much needed entrepreneurial jobs for the people who live and work in the area.
• Creates a vibrant street that maintains the affordable character of its surrounding neighborhood within a constrained right-of-way.
• Uses informal sidewalk design to accommodate continuously changing commercial uses that reflect the changing sociological, religious and economic context of the street. The commercial sidewalk uses reflect the changing needs of the people.
• Uses 10-foot wide travel lanes to ensure that automobiles respect the overarching pedestrian scale and character of the street.

Potential Issues:

• High maintenance: The high foot traffic and heavy commercial use results in continuous repair and disrepair of the street. Few trees are able to survive in this context to provide necessary shade and comfort to the users.
• Constrained space: Maximizing commercial uses on the street results in constrained space for pedestrians and people in wheelchairs.
• Other uses: There is a lack of pedestrian amenities, especially in terms of seating, lighting, etc. In some ways, the success of the commercial activities on the streets has negatively affected other supporting users of the streets.

The City is considering the redesign of Cesar Chavez to truly reflect its main street status. Widened sidewalks, flexible parking areas, continuous street trees and corner bulbouts will physically reinforce, organize and provide safe and desirable environments for the spontaneous activities that already take place on a daily basis.

Background

Beginning in the late 1980s, planning and architecture students from the University of California, Berkeley as well as other schools identified the potential for development along International Boulevard in Oakland, California. Their studies showed that dense, mixed-use development would be a viable and beneficial option to serve the population, which was both ethnically and economically diverse.

In the early 1990s, the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) formed a joint venture with the San Antonia Community Development Corporation to create a mixed residential and affordable housing development between 25th Avenue and 26th Avenue at 2555 International Boulevard. Called Hismen Hin-nu Terrace, the development was financed through various sources, including both residential and commercial sources. The residential sources consisted of California Community Reinvestment Corporation ($1.2 million), State Rental Housing Construction Program ($3.7 million), and City of Oakland ($1.78 million). The commercial sources consisted of City of Oakland CDBG ($650,000), Ford Foundation ($530,350), and Irvine Foundation ($500,000).

Project design architect Michael Pyatok, known for his extensive work on affordable housing, and construction design architect Ratcliffe Associates together created an award-wining, innovative development. Its awards include the Rudy Bruner Silver Medal Award for Excellence in Urban Environment (1997), the Gold Nugget Award for Best Affordable Housing Development at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (1995), and the National Award for Merit from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (1995).

The mixed-use development project includes 92 units of low income housing, a parking garage and 14,000 square feet of retail space. The project’s commercial components include a Head Start school, a large retail area and a market hall for 140 smaller merchants. The market hall provides a permanent setting for the indoor EBALDC-operated flea market, located in an empty supermarket that was on the site before the new building’s construction.

A key component of the project was the design of 5-foot deep vendor niches in the facade of the building to provide liner retail opportunities for local and small scale businesses. Architect Michael Pyatok specifically designed the vendor niches to help activate the sidewalk. Roll-down doors allow vendors to store merchandise in the niches overnight. The project has had a positive impact on the life of the neighborhood. According to the Bruner Award Selection Committee, it has transformed an underutilized, unattractive site into an attractive, vibrant, mixed-use project, bringing life to the street, people to the neighborhood, and retail and social service opportunities. New development has sprung up in the area, including a housing development, a convenience store, and two neighborhood restaurant renovations.

Lessons Learned
Potential Benefits:

• Lines an inactive edge of a high intensity, residential mixed-use building with pedestrian friendly retail.
• Serves the local population and is culturally sensitive to the ethnic and economic diversity of the neighborhood.
• Allows vendors to store merchandise in the niches overnight by providing roll-down doors that are attractive open or closed.
• Provides commercial niches with easy access and clear visibility for passersby, and also maintains clear visibility of adjacent interior commerce, such as the market hall or other retail space.

Potential Issues:

• Other uses: Other uses could be considered beyond retail sales, such as workshops, catering kitchens, light industry, commercial services, and social services, such as childcare, immigration/legal advice, or counseling.
• Project success: It is a struggle to minimize vacancies. Formalizing a traditionally informal type of commerce may not always be successful.

Background

In 1976, the City of Denver and the Regional Transportation District (RTD) introduced the idea of a public mall for 16th Street. Designed by I.M. Pei and Partners and Laurie Olin, the project’s total cost was $76.1 million, including the bus fleet and stations. More than three-fourths of the project was funded by federal transportation funds. Since the Mall opened, it has consistently been ranked as the #1 attraction in the Denver Metro Area.

The 16th Street Mall comprises an 80-foot right-of-way, divided into a 22-foot central median,10-foot wide transit-ways and 19-foot wide sidewalks on either side. Many of the businesses operate within the street median, which also includes a double row of honey locust trees and lanterns. One of the main components of the project is a granite paver system that mimics the skin of a western diamondback rattlesnake. Granite was recommended for its attractiveness, durability, low maintenance cost and slip-resistant nature. Despite some initial hesitancy over installing anything not anchored in place, movable seating has become a key attractive feature in the Mall.

More than 55,000 people use the free MallRide shuttles every day. In addition to thriving brick-and-mortar establishments, the Mall is home to 19 street cart vendors, 38 sidewalk cafes, and eight horse carriage ride companies. In addition, there are four semipermanent kiosks, and the City is now installing eight semipermanent retail merchandising units. The movable seating allows for flexible use of the central median space. Incidents of theft, vandalism, or collisions have been modest. In contrast, the granite pavers have not performed as well as anticipated. The pavers have required continual and costly maintenance, especially on transit-ways, which eventually led to a settlement with the designer to offset some of the annual repair costs. There have also been some issues with queues for popular vendors interfering with the transit-ways.

Efforts are currently underway to refurbish the Mall streetscape. As part of a two and a half year planning process, three design concepts for the Mall’s cross-section were proposed:

1. Retain existing design with retail median and busways.
2. Remove median and expand sidewalk space for cafe patios.
3. Relocate one of the bus lines to another street, thereby allowing the introduction of bike lanes.

The overall community consensus was the Mall configuration should remain the same (Option 1). It is likely that the modifications will include upgrading, preserving and resurfacing all pavers; upgrading electrical infrastructure and other utilities; upgrading universal access elements, such as widening curb ramps, adding audible and countdown crossing signals, etc.; adding more bike racks; providing updated signage and site furnishing; and increasing the number of street corner vending locations.

Lessons Learned
Potential Benefits:

• Provides additional opportunities for commerce.
• Minimizes the need for private automobile use by providing free MallRide shuttles, thereby contributing to the shared use street character.
• Allows for flexible use of the central median space by providing moveable seating. Incidents of theft, vandalism, or collisions have been rare.
• Uses a double row of trees to provide protection from the elements.
• Creates a unique sense of place with attractive streetscape furnishings.
• Accommodates large crowds and special activities like street performances.
• Allows for standard vendor facilities (5 feet by 8 feet).

Potential Issues:

• Paver design: Paver design and construction should take local climate and maintenance into account.
• Median width: The width of the median should be a minimum of 25 feet to accommodate crowds.
• Location of food vendors: Locate food vendors close to street intersections to provide good visibility and access. Since vendors are required to remove their carts at then end of the day due to health code regulations, access to the cross streets is critical.
• Infrastructure needs: Future streetscape improvements should plan for current and future infrastructure needs of the community, such as expanding the bandwidth of the existing wi-fi network and providing greater electrical capacity.
• Street activation: The level of street activation should be adjusted in accordance with the size and geometry of the street.
• Median use: The relative isolation of the median has encouraged use by homeless and youth, thereby displacing other uses.

Background

In the 1980’s, the City of Mountain View took on a variety of large-scale projects with the goal of revitalizing the downtown. Construction of a new city hall, performing arts center, and civic plaza were key projects in this effort. City leaders recognized that to achieve their goal, these new civic buildings would need to be accompanied by an updated public realm. They hired the urban design firm of Freedman, Tung, and Sasaki to complete the design work for $12 million of streetscape improvements for Castro Street.

The improvements to the two-thirds mile stretch of Castro Street modified the existing four-lane arterial, providing parallel parking within an 80- to 90-foot right-of-way. The right-of-way includes a three-lane street with 34 feet of asphalt roadway and a 10-foot wide sidewalk on both sides of the road that offers traditional commercial opportunities, such as outdoor dining. A key component of the design was the 18-foot wide Flex Zone on either side. Both the Flex Zone and the sidewalks were constructed with a special paving detail. The intent of the Flex Zone was to allow angled or parallel parking or outdoor dining in this area. To ensure that the Flex Zone was reclaimed for pedestrians, street trees were provided at 30-foot intervals. Up-lighting was also installed for each tree to ensure nighttime visibility, and also to increase the sense of safety and provide a pleasant atmosphere for nighttime strollers. Mid-block bulbouts with crosswalks were added to improve the overall corridor connectivity. Additional improvements included bus shelters, special paving materials, seating areas, planters, etc.

With the implementation of Castro Street’s new Flex Zone, the city established a policy of allowing adjacent business owners to convert street parking into outdoor dining areas. To be approved for outdoor dining, business owners must fill out a city application form, pay a fee and provide proof of insurance. The application must be renewed annually. Since renewal is not guaranteed for business owners, especially if they have a history of problems adhering to city codes, the renewal process helps the city with code enforcement. The city also has design standards for all furniture, planters, landscaping, dishware, and utensils that are used inside the Flex Zone. The city’s policy is to allow a maximum of 32 parking spaces to be converted into outdoor dining areas. As of February 2011, 27 permits had been granted by the city.

The Castro street improvements have resulted in increased foot traffic along the street. New businesses have also opened, particularly restaurants with outdoor dining. This economic growth not only translated into revenue for businesses, but also increased revenue for the city. Castro Street’s increased attractiveness to individuals and businesses has also helped attract new multi-family, pedestrian-oriented housing developments adjacent to nearby Caltrain and light rail stations, including townhouses with individual entrances that face the sidewalk.

Lessons Learned
Potential Benefits

• Creates additional outdoor dinning areas by using the Flex Zone.
• Uses up-lighting for nighttime visibility, an increased sense of safety and to create a pleasant atmosphere for nighttime strollers.
• Uses a consistent palette of street furnishings to create a very attractive, pedestrian-friendly environment that appears larger than it is.

Potential Issues

• Retailers: Castro Street has become a great restaurant street but it has been more difficult to lure general retailers to this area.
• Protection of street trees: In the Flex Zone, vehicles hitting street trees was a potential problem. However, it has been ameliorated largely by providing well designed tree guards and emphasizing angled parking. If parallel parking was required, an additional two feet of maneuvering room at each end was provided.
• Separation of Flex Zone: To help motorists know when they have entered the Flex Zone, the design originally called for a ¾-inch thick lip at the intersection of the roadway and the Flex Zone. While helpful for vehicles, this lip caused bicyclists to fall when entering the zone. The City has beveled this edge to allow for a more gradual transition into the zone. For future projects, a simple change in material would be enough to distinguish the Flex Zone from the vehicular travel lanes. Wheelchair access to the Flex Zone also has not been accommodated. A solution to this issue could be provided by having some dining areas on raised decks flush with the sidewalk.
• Maintenance: The special paving pattern and material is frequently damaged, and it is hard to replicate and replace it. It would be useful to explore a more flexible paving pattern and texture that is relatively easy to maintain.