City of Portland Food Carts Study and Survey

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Food Cartology – City of Portland Studies Local Food Carts

What Impact are Food Carts having on our Community?

The Portland Bureau of Planning in partnership with a group of Masters of Urban and Regional Planning students from Portland State University are conducting an analysis of food carts in Portland, including a short online survey.

As paraphrased from the City’s press release, The purpose of the project is to understand the impact food carts have on the social and urban fabric of a community and to understand the economic development potential food carts offer entrepreneurs.

Over the past few years, the presence of food carts has become more visible both downtown and in neighborhoods such as Sellwood, Mississippi, and Cully to name a few. According to Multnomah County Health Department records, there are currently approximately 170 stationary food carts in the City of Portland (a map is available upon request).

In Portland, besides health inspections by the County, food carts are relatively unregulated. “Food carts have grown to fill an in between niche- in between buildings, in between permanent uses, and in between regulation,” says Karen Thalhammer, a member of the six person PSU student group, “We want to explore what role, if any, the city should have in this phenomena without stifling the creative spontaneity that drives it.”

According to Alma Flores, the City’s Economic Development Planner at the Bureau of Planning, “This study is very timely as we are updating Portland’s Comprehensive Plan. We want to learn what role food carts have in creating distinctive, economically diverse neighborhoods.”

The study seeks to answer the following questions:

• What effects do food carts have on street vitality and neighborhood life? Do food carts make a more lively and engaging streetscape? Do food carts provide a space for impromptu social interaction between people?
• To what extent do food carts serve as an entry-point into long term business ownership? Do they provide beneficial economic opportunities for residents of Portland?

To answer these questions, the students have will survey and interview food cart owners, property owners, neighboring businesses, and conduct a public poll.