The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's study Food Truck Nation includes a "food truck index" that shows which cities are the most food truck friendly.
The index covers 20 U.S. cities and the goal is to show what it's like to start an operate a food truck. The index covers three key criteria: obtaining permits and licenses, complying with restrictions, and operating a food truck.
The study chart below shows the top 10 food truck friendly cities, with Portland leading the list.
See the report for the complete list. Boston, BTW, came in last.
We think the key quote from the report is:
“You can create your restaurant on wheels for $50,000 to $60,000. You get a little slice of the American dream, pretty inexpensively.”
We've long covered the food truck industry and in 2012 released what is still our favorite study, Food Trucks Motor into the Mainstream, in partnership with Intuit.
Our key finding at the time was that the growth of food trucks was an excellent example of the broader of growth of niche, artisan businesses.
Craft brewing, which we covered a few weeks ago, is another example.
Our thinking hasn't changed. For more on this topic, see our food truck section.
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