This seems a rather awkward issue. Competition, as forced by the food trucks, usually is good overall for a business environment, as it lessens complacency and mediocrity. Excessive competition, as offered by a temporary outsider having advantages via lower overhead and tax costs, can not only destroy the established brick and mortars, but can impair the efforts of an area, such as the city core, to gain "solid, long-term improvements in infrastructure". By their nature, food trucks are temporary .. perhaps better suited to carnival environments.
Regarding competition as presented by the food trucks, one might wonder .. what is to happen to the brick and mortar businesses if ... once they've exhausted all avenues to improve and compete against the food trucks .... the food trucks continue to invade the area .. and continue to offer, by shear quantity, and profound, potentially destructive competition to the established older businesses ... competition which might be a consequence not of quality, but of price offerings set low simply because their overhead is lower via the temporary nature of the food truck operation.
We might ask ourselves... especially in the core ... Do we want to have solid, tax paying brick and mortar establishments, offering long term stability ... ultimately offering a more attractive community ambiance -- or do we want a temporary carnival atmosphere? The goal of any city core is to enhance fundamental infrastructure, to fill the empty buildings, to produce a vibrancy tied directly to solid infrastructure, and not to a temporary carnival scenario which could easily disappear via some unforeseen condition ... leaving a weakened infrastructure and ambiance .. which might have been caused by their very presence.
The pressure and presence of the food trucks can actually cause a city core to stagnate regarding fundamental improvements in infrastructure .. can reduce new start-ups in the core .... and will leave the city core, after many years of food truck presence, just as it was ... or worse ... before they invaded the area.
The food truck issue is similar to Art Walk and the Jazz Festival.. and One Spark. These events are wonderful for the most part. But they are temporary impacts. They remind us that the city core exists for things other than the jail and the courthouse. Although all these events are good for the most part, just as with the food trucks, they do not necessarily impact and focus on the fundamentals regarding the goal of achieving full infill and total vibrancy. The are like candy.... quick pleasures at the expense of long-term quality.
The food trucks ultimately will impede long term efforts to revitalize the city core -- not only by discouraging new start-up investment in brick and mortar operations, but also, if allowed to increase their presence, by acting to destroy the dedicated businesses struggling to survive in the relatively low foot traffic in the core.
In my opinion, once the city core achieves full infill, and high vibrancy, the presence of food trucks will not be seen as destructive competition ... they will be welcomed. And the homeless, once full vibrancy has been achieved, will be somewhat welcomed too, as it will give some folks the opportunity to raise themselves up by looking down upon somebody every single day, right in the city core.
Must get to work.