The Reason LA Has 10,000 Food Trucks and Chicago Only Has 70

It's simple. Mayor Rahm Emanuel harasses food trucks.

He recently announced a crackdown on trucks that violate city policies — such as parking in one spot for longer than two hours.  A violation of the two-hour rule can cost upwards of $1,000 plus the loss of a workday when the vendor goes to court.

Another rule prohibits food trucks from standing less than 200 feet away from a brick and mortar restaurant.

“The numbers don’t lie: there are 10,000 food trucks in LA, there are 3,000 in New York City, 1,000 in Miami and we have 70 in Chicago,” says Gabe Wiesen, the interim head of the Illinois Food Truck Association and owner of Beavers Donuts. “In Chicago, it’s pretty obvious what’s happening here and why the industry isn’t able to grow.”

“These rules are bad policy because it's unfair for the city council to pick winners and losers in business,” says Michael Lucci, director of jobs and growth at the Illinois Policy Institute, an organization focused on public policy. “But that's exactly what the food truck law does – it makes it very difficult to operate a business as a food truck and specifically limits where and when they can sell food. Imagine only being allowed to work for two hours to provide for your family and serve Chicagoans. That's very unfair to these entrepreneurs.”

(via  The Illinois Policy Institute)