EVANSVILLE, IN – Food trucks are now in Owensboro, and starting next week, they’ll be in downtown Evansville temporarily. It’s part of a two-month trial program that could lead to the city allowing these diners on wheels in some parts of Evansville.
“People love to eat outside,” says Joshua Armstrong, the Downtown Alliance Director for the SW Indiana Chamber.
Everyday we get hungry and, sometimes, we’re hungry for change.
“There’s quite a few options, but after you work here for a few months, it starts to, kind of, be the same places over and over,” says Michael Schade of Evansville. City officials want to introduce another option to downtown’s dining menu: food trucks, starting a test block on 3rd Street four hours a day for two months.
“I think it gives some diversity,” says Rebecca Russell, who lives in Dana Point, California. “It allows people to try out different foods that they wouldn’t necessarily try out that’s available. I think for the people that own the food truck, they have menus they can tweak, depending on the clientele.” Armstrong says they started the program to get city code changed to allow food trucks. Currently, city law prohibits them from parking on public streets.
“When you apply for your permit through the county, you’re given a list of regulations and one of them is you have to park on private property with permission of the property owner or the tenant,” he explains. “So, within that, that automatically excludes all city streets.”
Armstrong adds the site will also bring in contractors working on downtown projects in the future, and get Evansville hungry for more.
“It would be kind of a cool experience just to get to walk up and, you know, maybe get to meet someone new, get some good food,” Schade adds.
City officials say if the program works, an ordinance allowing food trucks to operate on city streets could be introduced after the test program ends.
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