Want a spicy but refreshing mangonada to go with that enchiladas con carne?

Head down to New Haven's Long Wharf Drive where a long line of food trucks serve up an eclectic array of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Central, and South American specialities. A little salsa music too.

Long Wharf is one of the city's four recently established food vending districts, a program getting some mixed reviews from street food providers. For $2,500 a year, food trucks get a designated spot each day. At Long Wharf, another $500 gets them hooked up to electricity.

It's good when business is booming. But restrictive when it's not, say some vendors.

This hour, we go inside the somewhat nomadic existence of these roadside chefs. We look at what other communities in Connecticut are doing -- or not doing -- to adapt their permitting and zoning regulations to keep up with what industry researchers say is a nearly $1 billion business in the U.S.

Are you a food truck operator struggling to make ends meet? 

Want a spicy but refreshing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTbq9McNlhk">mangonada</a> to go with that enchiladas con carne?
Head down to New Haven's <a href="https://www.nhregister.com/lifestyle/article/New-Haven-officials-tout-development-of-Food-11319264.php">Long Wharf Drive</a> where a long line of food trucks serve up an eclectic array of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Central, and South American specialities. A little salsa music too.
Long Wharf is one of the city's <a href="https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/food_cart_food_truck/">four recently established food vending districts</a>, a program getting some mixed reviews from street food providers. For $2,500 a year, food trucks get a designated spot each day. At Long Wharf, another $500 gets them hooked up to electricity.
It's good when business is booming. But restrictive when it's not, say some vendors.
This hour, we go inside the somewhat nomadic existence of these roadside chefs. We look at what other communities in Connecticut are doing -- or not doing -- to adapt their permitting and zoning regulations to keep up with what industry researchers say is a nearly <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/specialized-market-research-reports/consumer-goods-services/food-service-drinking-places/food-trucks.html">$1 billion business</a> in the U.S.
Are you a food truck operator struggling to make ends meet?&nbsp;

Produced by Connecticut Public, 'Where We Live' puts Connecticut in context. Host Catherine Shen brings us fascinating, informed, in-depth conversations and stories beyond news headlines.  We start local, but we take time to explore domestic and international issues and consider how they impact us personally and here at home.

Produced by Connecticut Public, '<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/where-we-live/about">Where We Live'</a> puts Connecticut in context. Host Catherine Shen brings us fascinating, informed, in-depth conversations and stories beyond news headlines.  We start local, but we take time to explore domestic and international issues and consider how they impact us personally and here at home.

Where We Live is a call-in talk show about who we are in Connecticut and our place in the world.

Where We Live

Produced by Connecticut Public, '<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/where-we-live/about">Where We Live'</a> puts Connecticut in context. Host Catherine Shen brings us fascinating, informed, in-depth conversations and stories beyond news headlines.  We start local, but we take time to explore domestic and international issues and consider how they impact us personally and here at home.

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