Blogtown, PDX

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

News Food Carts Report Glosses Over Conflicts

Posted by Matt Davis on Tue, Jun 17 at 11:57 AM

A new report carried out by the Portland Bureau of Planning and Portland State University says food carts are good for neighborhood vitality, and is encouraging the City of Portland to identify more locations for them. The report, which you can download here, makes for interesting reading, but it does rather gloss over conflicts that have arisen between food carts and storefront business owners in the past.

For example, the first paragraph reads: “According to an Oregonian article, a business owner near a new cluster of food carts on Hawthorne Blvd. acknowledged that the carts have increased his business due to the popularity of the carts.” Then it references this article by Steve Duin at the Oregonian, which spends 11 paragraphs describing tension between the owners of a new food cart in the parking lot next door to Tiny’s Coffee, and Tiny’s owner Phil Ragaway, who said:

“I’m all for small business; I’m a small business,” Ragaway said. “But the carts aren’t playing by the same rules. I’m the guy paying the development charges. They don’t have facilities such as bathrooms and (running) water. My water bills have more than doubled. My trash cans were overflowing.”

The “business owner” who “acknowledges” there’s more business? Issac Dweik, who owns the Shell station south of the intersection.

Come on, people. If you’re writing with an agenda, at least be honest about it. Now, what do people think of a food cart catering to the needs of homeless people? How’s that for increasing pedestrian foot traffic? Or would it be the wrong kind of foot traffic? Perhaps Peterson’s could open a downtown convenience cart aimed specifically at liberal Nazi gentrifiers in need a pack of smokes. He could call it “A Convenient Truth.” Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week.

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Comments

I don't get it. What's Issac's agenda?

Posted by martin | June 17, 2008 1:44 PM

To push food carts as the solution to all of downtown's problems.

Posted by Matt Davis | June 17, 2008 2:14 PM

I thought porn was the solution?

Posted by JustinS | June 17, 2008 2:37 PM

Give 'em a break, it's a grad school project. It has more fluff that a pillow factory.

Posted by GLV | June 17, 2008 3:58 PM

Good work, Matt. You've discovered that yet another character-defining thing about Portland that most people love is actually a nefarious plot on the part of The Man. Or something. If it weren't for you making the personal sacrifice of moving here and forming opinions, we wouldn't realise how much Portland actually sucks.

Posted by Ian | June 18, 2008 12:12 AM

Report sure skips over regulatory issues with what seems like a HUGE overstatement: "Despite the persistent misconception that food carts are under-regulated, the Multnomah County Health Department regulates carts in the same way that all businesses that prepare and sell food are regulated."

Then why don't carts have hand washing and toilet facilities?

So, how about toilet carts? These are micro-enterprises that business owners near cart sites might welcome.

Posted by PHLUSHer | June 18, 2008 9:29 AM

PHLUSHer: How is that an overstatement?

Matt: OK. I get it. It's hip to rant about "liberal Nazi gentrifiers."

In other words, The Mercury blog seems to be degentrifying from an alt-college mindset to an alt-middle school mindset.

Posted by JingleBells | June 18, 2008 10:26 AM

There are plans for a drive thru Starbucks coffee there in the fall. So the carts will be gone soon. I don't understand all the hub bub.

Posted by baby cakes | June 18, 2008 10:43 AM

First off, let me admit my bias here: I'm dating one of the co-authors of that report, and have been privy to much of the decision-making that went into what to include, and what areas to measure, and how to present the results.

Read the rest of the report. They address the issue of fairness, the perceptions and preferences of storefront competitors, and actually (gasp!) go so far as to make constructive recommendations for how to support cart owners who want to make the step up to brick-and-mortar shops.

You don't have to agree with their conclusions, but don't skim the opening pages of a scientifically-measured and carefully-prepared report and dismiss it because it doesn't play into recent "controversy" mostly constructed by your colleagues in the press.

Posted by Lennon | June 18, 2008 11:23 AM

The report is fulffenbutter produced from the City of Portland "The City that always sleeps"

The PSU kids haphazardly asked some of my staff members while doing the interviewing investigation process. They were already on a preprogrammed agenda holding a selective perception when they started the interview. They have no idea of the impact food carts have on small business nor really wanted to hear it.

The City of Portland The City that always sleeps...

Posted by Philip Ragaway | June 18, 2008 7:34 PM