It goes without saying that the convenience of street food makes it popular with lunchtime crowds, peckish tourists, and, well, hungry guys like me. The opportunity to try new foods that aren’t available in restaurants is also an added bonus. However, realistically speaking, it is inevitable that more street food will lead to more street garbage: I’m talking more containers, more plastic forks, more napkins, more chopsticks, more plastic bags, etc.

Now, if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about Vancouver from my 30 years in this city, it’s that it seems to always have a tendency to be ill-prepared for certain basic city functions. I don’t know what it is really, but for some odd reason Vancouver streets are never ready for heavy snowfall in the winter. When they do happen on occasion, the city is not equipped for Stanley Cup riots. Earthquakes still seem like a new phenomenon. And of course after all these years, it never ceases to amaze me how overwhelmed the city is by the influx of garbage in the downtown streets.

photo: Andy Clark/Reuters

We all know what overflowing trash cans are like. We’ve all tried to throw away that last little something in a waste receptacle that was no longer receptive to waste, trying to balance our garbage between two Starbucks cups and a crumpled-up Blenz napkin, while taking advantage of the friction provided by a banana peel. Look no further than the annual summer fireworks celebration to see this happening at every garbage can along Davie, Denman, and Robson. It’s ugly. It’s gross. And it’s kind of embarrassing that this continues to happen on a yearly basis.

We all know what overflowing trash cans smell like. During the Vancouver civic strike in 2007 where garbage collection was halted for three months, anarchy ruled. Garbage ended up everywhere as every dumpster and waste bin had reached capacity early on during those hot summer months. It wasn’t empty coffee cups stacked on top of an already full waste bins anymore, but full bags of domestic garbage and other nonsense just scattered in the alleyways of the Downtown Eastside. It was ugly. It was gross. It was kind of smelly and I don’t think anybody wants to go through that experience again.

So I hope hope hope that the city is prepared to empty those waste bins on the street before they get too full with Korean taco wrappers and empty tortilla soup bowls. During the Olympics, it was nice to see the city adding more waste receptacles downtown so let’s hope they install some fresh bags and get those going again. But jam-packed garbage bins are not entirely the city’s fault. It’s people who are creating the garbage in the first place. So most importantly, I encourage all of you to think about why you have garbage in your hand and are throwing it out. Was the extra napkin or soy sauce packet necessary? Did your food need to go in a plastic bag if you were going to take it out and eat it 10 seconds later? Have you considered using a travel mug for your coffee? Let’s all be a little more conscious of what we’re throwing away so that we can make the city’s job of collecting it a lot easier.

“I voted” sticker – Photo by Cave Canem

Next week promises to be a busy one at Council – between the regular session of Council on Tuesday and the various Council Committee meetings taking place on Thursday there is a full suite of public space related activities. These include:

• A motion (see below) on the possibility of on-line voting (Tues)
• A motion on calculating available density in the city (Tues)
• A report on expanding street food options (Thurs)
• A report on noise in the city and the efficacy of the noise bylaw (Thurs)
• Discussion on the VAG move (which we mentioned in our previous post) (Thurs)
• Two presentations – likely quite contentious – on building heights and view-related issues (Thurs)
• The draft Greenest City Implementation Plan (Thurs)

The first is particularly timely. Earlier this week a suite of contenders for the leadership of the BC liberals endorsed (some cautiously) the idea of on-line voting. And here’s a chance to consider it at the local level.

For those that have difficulty scheduling a trip to the neighbourhood voting box once every three or four years, this might make life easier. There’s a larger discussion to be had about civic engagement here – and, as much as we like technology, we can’t help wonder if this will do much to get at the core issues behind current voting levels. Then again, if it does a better job of getting residents engaged with the civic contest, that’s a positive outcome.

Either way, it’s an interesting motion and we’re be watching to see the sort of exchange that ensues.

Here’s the text of the motion, which was introduced by Councillor Andrea Reimer:

WHEREAS

1. Less than 35% of eligible voters in Vancouver cast ballots in the last two
civic elections;

2. Voter turnout is considered an important indicator of social cohesion
and vital to a healthy democracy;

3. Research conducted by Elections Canada on voter turn out in the last
federal election found that 57% of non-voters cited time pressures that
prevented them from getting to a voting place in person;

4. Elections Canada will be conducting an online voting pilot in the 2013
federal election;

5. Online voting can greatly improve accessibility by increasing the time
and place options available to voters to cast a ballot;

6. Online voting is used in more than three dozen Canadian municipalities ranging from 44 municipalities in Ontario, such as Markham, ON which piloted online voting in 2003, to Halifax, Nova Scotia which conducted successful pilots in a 2008 general election and 2009 by-election;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City Clerk report to Council on the feasibility of conducting an online voting pilot in the 2011 municipal elections or, if 2011 is not feasible, what the earliest date for a pilot would be.

A new poll from Angus Reid Public Opinion found 60% of 1,003 Canadians, and 69% of British Columbians support the move. Forty-five percent believe banning large-format retail will help smaller, local stores; 45% also find a fast food ban will encourage healthier eating. A bit more than a third of respondents think such moves would be rights infringing, in both cases.

As the study points out, however, while Canadians support the move by a 3-to-1 margin, most aren’t so eager to see a ban implemented in their own city.

In Vancouver’s case, the existing street food ban reminds us that urbanites don’t get to eat and shop wherever they like already. “Rights” in this area are already “infringed”, (assuming such a thing should be called a right). But from the perspective of the study, almost any regulation could be considered “rights infringing.’

What do our readers think? Would a wider ban be positive for Vancouver, or would it take us away from the liberalizing pro-street food path we’re currently on?

(PDF of the full study).

- By Mike Soron

You may have noticed your selection when it comes to street vendors falls into two categories, hot dogs and chestnuts. The city is now moving ahead with a plan to increase the selection when it comes to food vendors.

City Councillor Heather Deal says they are making great progress. “Our engineering department, our food specialists and the health folks have been sitting down and talking and have come to the conclusion that we can do a lot more and it’s time to start trying that this summer.”
Full article here.

With Olympic crowds animating city streets and venues, there has been a steady rumbling of Olympic-sized appetites roaming in search of food and drink. Despite all the foot traffic, the culinary options that have been set up as part of the 2010 Games are a bit of a mixed (feed) bag to be sure.

On the one hand, restaurants in the vicinity of Olympics crowds – that is, in the downtown core – have been largely able to capitalize off of the influx of folks. Others located outside the immediate core area – in Gastown, South Granville and elsewhere – are claiming a loss of business.

Then there is also the food that the Olympics have brought to town. Here the Games have managed to infuse the city with a range of culinary elements. For example, if you’ve got the time, a one hour line will get you all the carbo-loading you need: the Swiss house on Granville Island has nightly cues for fondue, the German pavilion has Atkins-friendly beer and bratwurst, the Dutch huis out in Richmond rocks out with a healthy mix of Heineken and techno. There’s also been been a push for “Canadian fare” as Jenn Laidlaw notes in a recent article in Beyond Robson. (Where she reports on her experiences with mussels and Solomon Gundy, Ill take this opportunity to give a shout-out to the Ontario pavillion for featuring some of the Province’s finer micro-breweries as part of their showcase).

But one thing that’s surely been missing is any real amping up of the street food scene. The new food options that have come with the celebrations have largely, with the exception of some of the Yaletown market spaces, been found off the streets and behind pavillion gates. And this has been one of the big suprises, because in many ways – with projection art, ziplines, light shows and sculptural installations – there has been a tremendous (and well received) effort put into enlivening downtown public space. So why don’t our street food options also reflect this?

In a way, its a rather striking omission. Our Street Vending Bylaw (#4781), licensing requirements and related health regulations haven’t kept up with the times. This is hardly a new observation. While we’ve have (collectively) taken strides with the introduction of the oft-talked about Japadog (itself set up because the City wouldnt allow its owner a license to sell crepes on the street) we lag way behind other urban centres in terms of having any options other than tubes of nitrate-infused meat sawdust, delicious as they are.

As one Globe writer article lamented, “it’s still incredibly sad to think that in a city as cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse as Vancouver this [Japadog] is the only remotely interesting street food around.”

Street food in Vancouver is waiting for its renaissance. Thankfully, a better tasting set of options could soon be on its way. City staff will be reporting back on a motion by Councillor Heather Deal (first introduced in March 2008) that seeks to increase the choice of street food possibilities. Change may be on the horizon (and grill!) as early as spring of this year.

In this respect, the good news is that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. There are lots of precedents on which we can draw. In fact, if you look at the very successful temporary food operations that are available during events like the Vancouver Folk Fest – a wide variety of venders, healthy food options and low-waste, composting-friendly measures – and you can see that the vending possibilities are already in place with current city operators.

And there are inummerable examples of successful street food programs from elsewhere in the world. My favourite examples of street food vending come from south of the border in Portland. Here, small trailers replace carts. Check out following examples. The first comes from SW 3rd Street and SW Stark in the downtown area.

Here’s a second example, not too many blocks away, at 5th and Oak:

In both cases, the trailers are located on private parking lots but front on to the city sidewalk. Each contains over 20 different vendors selling an almost equally diverse array of street food. The trailers themselves are metered off of a City utility pole, and have running water and a clean working environment to cover off sanitation and broaden the cooking options. What do you get in addition to the hotdogs? Try kebabs, pasta, skewers, vegetarian wraps, tacos and quesadillas, burgers, soups… and the list goes on. (You can also read more about the Portland experience at the Food Carts Portland blog.)

The great “case studies” that are available to Vancouverites can also be supported with some decent principles that speak to the value of street food vending. The good news goes beyond just providing more food options to hungry visitors and residents: street vending helps to enliven public space, bringing more people outside and on to the street. Such vending tends to be easier on the wallet as well, which is always nice. And the economic benefits flow the other way as well – as vending also provides jobs and enables opportunities for small and micro-business entrepreneurialism.

Heather Deal herself is excited by the opportunities that are now upon us. When I asked her about the impact of the Olympics on street vending of this sort she was quite forthcoming in her response:

“We’ve seen an explosion of different types of food available in pavillions and in the open marketplaces in Yaletown and at the Plaza of Nations. It would be a real shame to see us return to the very limited street food we’ve traditionally had available. We can use our Olympic experience to help us appreciate what is possible.”