So says the LA City Board of Supervisors in an affront to the letter and spirit of not only freedom of enterprise but, as C.Thi Nguyen compellingly argues below, to the spirit of free assembly.
From the LA Times:
All my best L.A. memories are about girls or taco trucks. There's something shockingly vivid about having great tacos out of a truck -- standing outside, wind in your hair, chowing down with all the homies, hipsters, off-duty cops, nurses, professors and homeless dudes. People are pretty cheerful around a taco truck; they smile, they talk. On a good night, the crowd around a taco truck is the closest thing we have to a unified Los Angeles soul.
Maybe it's because of what my friend, food theorist Kathy Shin, calls "the joy of festival food." It feels a bit like a party out there -- the mix of intense flavors, milling people, bright lights in the night. Or maybe it's the sense of camaraderie -- that nobody knows who you are or how much you make, you're all there in the heat or the cold for the same reason -- good food, for cheap. Or maybe it's just because some of the trucks offer the most gloriously energetic food in this city -- tacos that are like bullets of spiky, oniony happiness.
Which is why what the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has done terrifies me. On Wednesday, the supervisors passed a harsh set of regulations for unincorporated county areas. Parking a taco truck in one spot for longer than an hour is now punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, or six months in jail, or both. Developers and restaurant owners, particularly in East L.A., are pushing for tougher enforcement too. These changes, say some truck owners, will probably put them out of business.
This is a cultural disaster. Forget the Getty -- it's the taco trucks, and their crowds, that are the true culture of L.A. Attacking the trucks is like New York going after its hot dog stands or Memphis banning barbecue pits.
(Thanks to Anthony Gregory)
From the LA Times:
In defense of the great taco truck
All my best L.A. memories are about girls or taco trucks. There's something shockingly vivid about having great tacos out of a truck -- standing outside, wind in your hair, chowing down with all the homies, hipsters, off-duty cops, nurses, professors and homeless dudes. People are pretty cheerful around a taco truck; they smile, they talk. On a good night, the crowd around a taco truck is the closest thing we have to a unified Los Angeles soul.
Maybe it's because of what my friend, food theorist Kathy Shin, calls "the joy of festival food." It feels a bit like a party out there -- the mix of intense flavors, milling people, bright lights in the night. Or maybe it's the sense of camaraderie -- that nobody knows who you are or how much you make, you're all there in the heat or the cold for the same reason -- good food, for cheap. Or maybe it's just because some of the trucks offer the most gloriously energetic food in this city -- tacos that are like bullets of spiky, oniony happiness.
Which is why what the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has done terrifies me. On Wednesday, the supervisors passed a harsh set of regulations for unincorporated county areas. Parking a taco truck in one spot for longer than an hour is now punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, or six months in jail, or both. Developers and restaurant owners, particularly in East L.A., are pushing for tougher enforcement too. These changes, say some truck owners, will probably put them out of business.
This is a cultural disaster. Forget the Getty -- it's the taco trucks, and their crowds, that are the true culture of L.A. Attacking the trucks is like New York going after its hot dog stands or Memphis banning barbecue pits.
(Thanks to Anthony Gregory)
Drive 50 feet across the parking lot every 45 minutes? Cross the street? I'd have to see the code.