According to a late-breaking on Twitter last night, Drexel is now fining streetcart vendors for vending on the sidewalk.
*BREAKING* SpOt will NO LONGER be serving @DrexelUniv due to NEW police Capt’s order to fine ALL foodcart vendors for using sidewalk.Pls RT
— SpOt Gourmet Burgers (@Spotburgers) July 28, 2014
My feelings on this are quite mixed. Personally, I welcome the lunch trucks and most carts we have here on campus. Note the “most”. The roachcoaches I could do without, but I welcome icons such as spOt and La Dominique. While these two examples vend in high-traffic areas (a smart move), they do so on the sidewalks made for high traffic, by which I mean larger than two squares.
Then there are the ones that do park in the two square areas and park their fucking trucks on the sidewalk while the set up and break down, which I’m pretty sure is already illegal. It’s a sidewalk, not a sidedrive. These carts historically have also been roachcoachs either from or inspired by the ones in New York. Either way, I have zero desire to see them on campus, nor the crowds they attract: idiots that don’t know how to queue in a single-file line, off to the side; not a free-for-all mess that takes up what little of the sidewalk is already left.
So, do I support this new fine? Yes and no. If you’re one of the assholes that park in the two square areas, yes, you deserve it and good riddance to you. If you’re one of the ones that is sensible and parks in a wider area, like the 33rd and Arch corner, the plaza outside the Rec Center, or the side of Market that Hagerty is on, I think you shouldn’t as you’re not blocking the traffic on the sidewalk.
Now, I can’t find any confirmation that shows up on Google that this fine has actually been enacted. I am very interested in if it has and what the new restrictions entail.
