Mayor Marty Walsh – always trying to gain more social media savvy – hosted a second Twitter chat today with the hashtag #askmjw and directing messages to the Mayor’s twitter account, @marty_walsh, on Monday starting at 3 p.m.

The chat lasted a little over 40 minutes, with questions flowing in with inquiries such as:

And:

While the subjects of the Twitter chat’s questions spanned a variety of subjects, culture and dining were two major talk points that Twitter users brought to the Mayor’s attention. One participant in particular had one focus in mind when it came to vital growth of the city’s restaurant and dining lifelines: Food trucks, one of 2013’s biggest trends. Steven Leibowitz (@StevenL57) tweeted several times to Mayor Walsh about increasing the number of spots open to food truck vendors in the city:

Not long after, Leibowitz tweeted a link to a Change.org petition, which had already garnered 100 signatures at the time of his Tweet, that pushed for more locations in Boston for food trucks.

The petition now has 104 supporters, with signers sending Mayor Walsh the following message:

Increase food truck spots in the City of Boston 
Food trucks have provided residents and people working in Boston options to creative, innovative menus. Prices are competitive with most of the alternative lunch options available, and the quality is often higher. We have seen events where food trucks draw people to the city. Many food trucks have expanded from their original business and added more trucks and/or establish brick and mortar restaurants. These entrepreneurs are job creators. Food trucks also contribute to success in other areas of food entrepreneurism, using local commissaries and purchasing goods from local farms and vendors. Therefore we ask that the city expand locations for food trucks to operate, especially in multi truck clusters. There are a number of areas that are not served at all in the present program including, Downtown Crossing and the Fenway. Opportunities should be made available in areas where there is night life, after Garden events, and other venues around the city. A broader program will be an even more effective job creator.

While more and more food trucks take to the streets to serve quick, on the go and innovative meals to the city, it’s true that the allotted space they have in which to sell is limited. Currently, every food truck must submit their business to the Live Lottery, which will determine the food truck’s home and schedule for the new season, with some locations considered ‘prime’ (high trafficked) and others ‘non-prime.’ The complete list of food truck vendors and their locations can be found here.

As Leibowitz states in the petition description, he sees a void in certain areas like Downtown Crossing and Fenway, as well as other areas around the TD Garden and where there is a high density of night life.

If you would like to see more available locations for food trucks to set up shop in Boston, or are in the mobile vending business yourself, sign the petition here.

Image via Boston Event Planning

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