Our National Mall is a national shame

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm French. Coming from Europe, where big cities generally have lots of food options with walking distance of main tourist attractions, the DC food desert near the monuments was a shock when my relatives and I first visited. Now if I'm in the area, I go to the American Indian museum restaurant, the food is half decent, plus I love the building.

So yes, I agree with your complaints, OP. DC in general is a very strange capital city. It has a provincial atmosphere - which is nice if you live in NW! But this is why a lot of people in the world still think NYC is the capital of the USA...

I find it really interesting how often the French seem to enjoy coming on to this website and criticizing the USA and Washington DC. Why don’t you just go back to France already?

Honestly it's one french person who comments endlessly. They have a castle back in France and whine about America nonstop.

[Anonymous]

Some park on Independence Ave. overnight with a generator belching diesel fumes or no power at all... how does the food remain refridgerated ???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who regulates the trucks on the National Mall? The National Park Service or the DC government? If the latter, don't hold your breath. The DC Council in another spasm of "progressive" legislation basically eliminated the permit system for street vendors. Now one sees on the street outside retailers pop-up vendor tables that sell the very merchandise that thieves just stole from the stores!

It’s the DC government. And the food trucks are also parking inside the mall. It looks and smells so trashy.

I have never, in real life, encountered anyone using DCUM's favorite pejorative adjective. I guess I live in a bubble.

How about crowded, dirty, polluted (both noise and air), unkempt and personally overwhelming. The food is not even good. It’s repetitive and expensive.

Yes, tourist attractions typically are crowded, especially during tourist season. If I considered a place to be so awful, I would simply avoid visiting it.

DC was doing just fine before all of these food trucks came along. It has always been a high tourist attraction, regardless of food trucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who regulates the trucks on the National Mall? The National Park Service or the DC government? If the latter, don't hold your breath. The DC Council in another spasm of "progressive" legislation basically eliminated the permit system for street vendors. Now one sees on the street outside retailers pop-up vendor tables that sell the very merchandise that thieves just stole from the stores!

It’s the DC government. And the food trucks are also parking inside the mall. It looks and smells so trashy.

I have never, in real life, encountered anyone using DCUM's favorite pejorative adjective. I guess I live in a bubble.

How about crowded, dirty, polluted (both noise and air), unkempt and personally overwhelming. The food is not even good. It’s repetitive and expensive.

Yes, tourist attractions typically are crowded, especially during tourist season. If I considered a place to be so awful, I would simply avoid visiting it.

DC was doing just fine before all of these food trucks came along. It has always been a high tourist attraction, regardless of food trucks.

When was that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who regulates the trucks on the National Mall? The National Park Service or the DC government? If the latter, don't hold your breath. The DC Council in another spasm of "progressive" legislation basically eliminated the permit system for street vendors. Now one sees on the street outside retailers pop-up vendor tables that sell the very merchandise that thieves just stole from the stores!

It’s the DC government. And the food trucks are also parking inside the mall. It looks and smells so trashy.

I have never, in real life, encountered anyone using DCUM's favorite pejorative adjective. I guess I live in a bubble.

How about crowded, dirty, polluted (both noise and air), unkempt and personally overwhelming. The food is not even good. It’s repetitive and expensive.

Yes, tourist attractions typically are crowded, especially during tourist season. If I considered a place to be so awful, I would simply avoid visiting it.

DC was doing just fine before all of these food trucks came along. It has always been a high tourist attraction, regardless of food trucks.

DC resident here - I remember 15 years ago it was the Chinese Food Truck mafia where every single food truck was exactly the same - egg roll, pizza, hot dog, with the same sign with faded paint done by the same painter. But at least those food trucks were relatively cheap. And next to each one was the kitsch trailer selling cheapo shirts and hats with "DC" "FBI" "CIA" shirts. All identical. Now the kitsch trailers are still there but the food trucks have mostly been replaced with middle eastern dudes selling slushies, ice cream and boba tea at ridiculous prices, with no prices listed. They also park junk cars along the routes to save themselves spaces.

That said I do routinely see police hassling them, ticketing them and on occasion towing them. But their scam is such a big racket that they don't care about the tickets or having their junk car towed because they make more than enough by scamming tourists that tickets et cetera must have just become part of the cost of doing business.

I loved the legit food trucks that used to be downtown and would prefer to see them getting the tourist business than the scammers. I do think Council should pass some laws to crack down on the scammers. I think Council should at the very least require them to publicly display a price list along with requiring health inspections and displaying their permit and health inspection results. I've walked past some of them at night when there was no generator running and when the fumes aren't covering it up, some of them do reek like spoiled milk and rancid grease and god knows what else. Someone also suggested that there should be designated spaces and a lottery system for the vendors.

[Anonymous]

There should be licensing for food trucks akin to liquor licensing. Only allow x licenses to sell food on the Mall, vendors display license in prominent place, regular inspections, etc. The rest should be closed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who regulates the trucks on the National Mall? The National Park Service or the DC government? If the latter, don't hold your breath. The DC Council in another spasm of "progressive" legislation basically eliminated the permit system for street vendors. Now one sees on the street outside retailers pop-up vendor tables that sell the very merchandise that thieves just stole from the stores!

It’s the DC government. And the food trucks are also parking inside the mall. It looks and smells so trashy.

I have never, in real life, encountered anyone using DCUM's favorite pejorative adjective. I guess I live in a bubble.

How about crowded, dirty, polluted (both noise and air), unkempt and personally overwhelming. The food is not even good. It’s repetitive and expensive.

Yes, tourist attractions typically are crowded, especially during tourist season. If I considered a place to be so awful, I would simply avoid visiting it.

DC was doing just fine before all of these food trucks came along. It has always been a high tourist attraction, regardless of food trucks.

DC resident here - I remember 15 years ago it was the Chinese Food Truck mafia where every single food truck was exactly the same - egg roll, pizza, hot dog, with the same sign with faded paint done by the same painter. But at least those food trucks were relatively cheap. And next to each one was the kitsch trailer selling cheapo shirts and hats with "DC" "FBI" "CIA" shirts. All identical. Now the kitsch trailers are still there but the food trucks have mostly been replaced with middle eastern dudes selling slushies, ice cream and boba tea at ridiculous prices, with no prices listed. They also park junk cars along the routes to save themselves spaces.

That said I do routinely see police hassling them, ticketing them and on occasion towing them. But their scam is such a big racket that they don't care about the tickets or having their junk car towed because they make more than enough by scamming tourists that tickets et cetera must have just become part of the cost of doing business.

I loved the legit food trucks that used to be downtown and would prefer to see them getting the tourist business than the scammers. I do think Council should pass some laws to crack down on the scammers. I think Council should at the very least require them to publicly display a price list along with requiring health inspections and displaying their permit and health inspection results. I've walked past some of them at night when there was no generator running and when the fumes aren't covering it up, some of them do reek like spoiled milk and rancid grease and god knows what else. Someone also suggested that there should be designated spaces and a lottery system for the vendors.

I am the pp. I remember those egg roll trucks too. They were repetitive. They weren’t creative but, they weren’t bumper to bumper like what I see now. I don’t mind a good food truck or several but not the quantity there are now. What I see right now is not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not use the mall as a temporary shelter for migrants and the unhoused?

No, thank you.

Why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not use the mall as a temporary shelter for migrants and the unhoused?

I am assuming this was sarcasm

No, it was not. Why would you think that?

You really want to turn our national mall, which is one of the largest (and one of the most stunning) tourist attractions in the nation, into a community for homeless people?

Are you serious? If you want to make DC more of a disaster than it already is, go for it.

Why not create a safe community in the exurbs where land is cheap

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not use the mall as a temporary shelter for migrants and the unhoused?

No, thank you.

Why not?

Troll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not use the mall as a temporary shelter for migrants and the unhoused?

I am assuming this was sarcasm

No, it was not. Why would you think that?

You really want to turn our national mall, which is one of the largest (and one of the most stunning) tourist attractions in the nation, into a community for homeless people?

Are you serious? If you want to make DC more of a disaster than it already is, go for it.

Why not create a safe community in the exurbs where land is cheap

Because the infrastructure is in the district.

[Anonymous]

$14 for an ice cream cone.

I kid you not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$14 for an ice cream cone.

I kid you not.

If so, all that means is that people who are not you (or me) are willing to pay $14 for an ice cream cone. Do you think there should be price regulations on ice cream cones sold by vendors on the Mall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with you. I posted some thing similar over the summer. The food trucks are loud, disgusting, and such an eyesore. They all serve the same food, they all play loud obnoxious music, and they take up all of the parking surrounding the mall. Why? It was never like that. It makes the mall look disgusting, filthy and junked up.

When was it never like that?

Not that long ago let’s say four or five years. There were food trucks but you can count them on one hand. There was a hot dog food truck and vendor by the sculpture garden, one or two by American history and natural history and the same for Air and space. One or two food trucks. Now it is bumper to bumper all down constitution. You can’t even appreciate the architecture of the buildings, because all you can see our food trucks.

Yeah, the food trucks were not nearly as numerous when I moved here 15 years ago. And initially I was glad when a few more popped up because there had been so few that they all had really long lines and there are so few other options to eat near the mall. Sometimes the kids need a pretzel or ice cream! But it’s out of control now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$14 for an ice cream cone.

I kid you not.

If so, all that means is that people who are not you (or me) are willing to pay $14 for an ice cream cone. Do you think there should be price regulations on ice cream cones sold by vendors on the Mall?

I think the city needs to be taxing food truck operators a lot more if they’re making $14 on an ice cream cone.

I figure the city should get at least $8 of that.