Truckin'

Where Should Somerville Food Trucks Park It?

Who's driving this debate?
Who’s driving this debate?

C’mon, Somerville! A draft ordinance is before the Somerville Board of Aldermen’s legislative matters committee as we type, and a meeting about happens tonight at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Naturally, plenty of food-truck vendors will be on the scene to state their case. The problem? Some brick-and-mortar restaurants feel threatened, litter is a problem, traffic is a consideration, and nobody can agree on where the trucks should go.

Davis and Union Squares are seen as viable options, since there’s heavy foot traffic in both ‘hoods; on the other hand, some city officials want trucks to park in areas that won’t threaten existing businesses. (Never mind the fact that restaurants and food trucks are two completely different beasts serving two very different purposes. Restaurants are experiences; food trucks are pit stops. Of course, we’d never refuse a date with someone who wanted to take us to a food truck.) Meanwhile, vacant lots are also enticing; here, trucks and hungry people could congregate without becoming taco-and-cupcake-hoovering public nuisances.

Maybe Somerville simply needs one big Food Truck City, complete with its own governance, liquor laws, and wide swaths of green space for lounging. (We know who the mayor would be!) But where? Tell us!

Where Should Somerville Food Trucks Park It?