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11/13/2017 Are Food Trucks Good or Bad for the Twin Cities? | streets.mn <br />https://streets.mn/2012/07/09/are-food-trucks-good-or-bad-for-the-twin-cities/3/14 <br />Street vendors in New York. <br />Or code 427.130: <br />You are not allowed to “coast or side carelessly,” “play any game of ball,” “engage in any … <br />amusement” or (as anyone who has tried to have a political protest knows) “congregate … as three (3) <br />or more persons … to obstruct the free passage of pedestrians.” (Don’t get me started about dancing <br />on the street.) <br />In some ways, the debate over food trucks is <br />a remnant of this age-old fight over how our <br />streets and sidewalks should be used. <br />According to the modern 20th century <br />model, commerce should take place inside <br />proper buildings run by proper tax payers <br />with proper signage. Streets and sidewalks <br />and outdoor spaces are for moving cars (and <br />walking people) around as efficiently as <br />possible. On other other hand, with the the <br />19th century model, all sorts of things are <br />happening on the streets. People are haggling <br />and selling and panhandling and hanging out <br />and playing and cars are stuck in traffic and <br />are all kinds of things are going on. Food <br />trucks exist somewhere in between. <br />Why food trucks? Why now? <br />Food trucks have certainly taken Minneapolis and St Paul by storm over the last few years, their <br />success exceeding almost everyone’s expectations. But what explains this change, happening at this <br />moment in time? As I pointed out, it’s not like the concept of food being served from a mobile vehicle <br />is anything new. It’s not like this is some sort of iPod innovation that revolutionizes the urban food <br />service industry. So what explains the rocket-fueled success of the Twin Cities’ food trucks? <br />I can think of three possible answers. <br />No person shall place or suffer to be placed upon or over any sidewalk, or suspend over <br />any street, any goods, wares or merchandise for sale, show or otherwise beyond the front <br />line of the lot where such goods may be placed, suspended or exposed. (Unless, of course, <br />they have a permit.) <br /> <br />No person shall sell or attempt to sell, or offer or cry for sale at public auction in the city <br />any goods, chattels, wares, merchandise or personal property whatever to any person <br />upon the sidewalks or streets; nor shall any person by ringing a bell, gong or triangle, or <br />any loud cries, give notice of any auction or sale of any kind upon the streets or sidewalks <br />of the city. (Unless, again, they have a permit.) <br />