Vending Carts Capitalize on Washington, DC

The Washington Post reports that new vendors are being added to the streets of Washington, DC. The article focuses on how little culinary variety there is in the city. It's hot dogs, hot dogs, and not much else. Consumers' reluctance to experiment with other foods gets the blame-- per the newspaper. But I can't help but wondering whether heavy-handed regulation may be part of the problem.

The District of Columbia regulates vending extensively. Vending requires a permit, and a 10 year moratorium on new permits was lifted only just recently. And even now, they're still not easy to get. Permits and inspection certificates run more that $1200 a year. Vendors can't just set up anywhere they think they'll do their best business-- available spots are designated by the city. Even with these hurdles, vendor applicants outnumbered available spots by a ratio of 2 to 1.

Ten years ago Washington had 1200 legal sidewalk food vendors. Today it has 200. Isn't it time for the city to open up the spigot a bit more?