Students mourn closing of iconic food cart pods

By Lexi Kelley /// Staff Writer

Food Carts Portland is a blog that will help any foodie find their craving. As their slogan says, “Every Craving Is a Moving Target.” However, that target may have just become even harder to hit.

Food Carts Portland came out with a post on February 7th discussing a recent announcement released by the Oregonian that the Goodman family, owners of several parking lot properties around the city of Portland, are planning to erect eleven new buildings from Washington to Burnside and 6th to the Waterfront. The parking lots where they wish to develop these buildings are presently home to about seventy food carts and include Portland’s first food cart pod on 5th and Stark. The main Pio stop downtown is at 6th and Salmon, which is only 6 blocks away.

Within the 32 blocks between Burnside, Washington, 6th, and the Waterfront, there are a total of about sixty to seventy food carts that will lose their business’s location. That is more than seventy food cart owners and employees who will be out of work.

The food carts are important to students, seeming to fill the need that students have for quality food at a reasonable price and allowing for a lot of variety within one meal.

“It’s great to have the option to get food for $5 and for it to be good food,” Taylor Bell, ‘16 said.

The Goodman family hopes to to keep the heart of Portland alive with the buildings that they are planning to develop in this part of downtown.

“The vitality and authenticity of neighborhoods, to us, is really important,” Matt Goodman, current head of the Goodman family, said in an interview with the Oregonian.

However, some students think that food carts are the “vitality and authenticity” of the city of Portland.

“Food carts are a part of Portland’s culture,” Olivia Owens ’16 said.

The rise in the number of apartment buildings in the Portland area comes at a cost. This cost includes losing some of the food carts that some feel make Portland the city that it is. Students enjoy having the opportunity to choose delicious food at a price fit for a student budget. Many of them also view food carts as a piece of what really makes Portland, Portland, and, without it, will be at a loss for where to turn for middle of the night food runs downtown.

As student Camilla Radoyce ’16 puts it, “Sad days,” are ahead.