During lunch time, at an event, or after a night out on the town, queuing up at one or more parked food trucks can give you a great sense of community. People come together to eat, to be out in the city, and to give a little bit of money to some entrepreneurs. But the food trucks aren't always welcomed by the communities in which they park (see: Wilshire Blvd. businesses) and now one community has gone as far as to tell their residents to shun the food trucks.
The Larchmont Chronicle's June 2010 issue includes an item in the "Community Platform" section by Jane Gilman requesting readers give food trucks that come into the 'hood no love: "We ask that you do NOT patronize food trucks on Larchmont," Gilman writes. "You are taking away funds from eateries who pay rent and staff employees. The trucks also take up valuable parking places."
Those who side with Gilman believe that the businesses along Larchmont need all the help that they can get; never mind that for years Larchmont blocked the addition of chain restaurants to try to protect the mom-and-pops and now they are protecting a great many chains and turning away mom-and-pops in the form of trucks. Paying rent and for staff, along with other costs, are also things food trucks contend with, as well as competition among their own kind and with brick-and-mortars. And if someone travels to Larchmont to buy an item from a food truck, aren't they as likely to need and pay for a parking space as someone who goes there to eat at the Village Pizzeria?
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