Survey finding show majority find food push carts a positive addition to downtown

FARGO — In February, the City of Fargo put out a survey asking residence their opinion on food pushcarts operating downtown. This week, the city released the results of that survey.

The results suggest that Fargoans have an overall positive opinion about the food carts.

Over 78% of the 1,254 residents who took the survey said the food carts have a positive effect on their downtown experience, with over 58% of those respondents saying the carts have a very positive effect.

The survey also asked how much of an issue are things like grease spills, increased trash, congestion, or crowds not dispersing after bars were closed.

Those who said they saw those issues ranged from 10% to 20%, but 66% said they observed no such issues.

“So we actually have six permit holders right now for downtown, and there’s maybe about ten or so locations on Broadway that we give permits for,” said City of Fargo Planning Director Nicole Crutchfield.

The city says it will look into amending ordinances for push cart regarding spacing, cleanliness, and enforcement, but they plan to keep with the current program through the rest of the year.

The full survey results can be found here.