Birthplace of the Drive-Thru Bans Any New Fast Food Restaurants

Just 20 minutes east of my home in Pasadena lies the town of Baldwin Park. It's a small city — just 6.5 square miles and a population of about 80,000 — but it sports 17 fast food drive-thrus. The main roads through town are peppered with the familiar big chains and quaint little off-brand fast food joints that have obviously been there for decades. After all, this is where the drive-thru was born in 1948 with what would become the first In-N-Out, the West's beloved burger chain. This original restaurant sparked thousands of copy-cats, including the first drive-thru McDonald's in nearby San Bernardino, giving us the fast food landscape we have today and starting America's love affair with drive-thru services of all kinds.

Well it looks like the affair is ending — for now, anyway. The Baldwin Park city council just unanimously approved a nine-month moratorium on any new drive-thru restaurants in an effort to fight pollution from idling cars and shave down its citizens' expanding waistlines. Almost half of Bald Park residents are overweight, and a third are clinically obese. As Baldwin Park city planner Salvador Lopez explained to The Independent, "We here in Baldwin Park have taken strides to create a healthy community, and allowing one more drive-thru is not going to meet that goal."

Not everyone is happy about the ban, of course. Several residents voiced opposition to the ban before the vote, citing Baldwin Park's civic pride as the birthplace of the drive-thru. One would think 17 would be enough, but I suppose fast food patrons aren't exactly known for their restraint. According to Mayor Manuel Lozano, the ban was originally supposed to last 22 months and cover not just fast food, but also drive-thru banks and pharmacies. But after hearing comments from residents and lobbyists, the ban was toned down.

Despite some initial opposition, the city council doesn't show any signs of changing their overall course to try to make Baldwin Park a healthier city. Earlier this year, the council passed a law requiring fast food restaurants to display all nutritional information for their food, being one of the first to enact a scheme that will be required nationwide soon thanks to the new health care reform bill. The city is also moving forward with a new, publicly funded outdoor fitness center with a track and a gym for the purpose of fighting childhood obesity.

It is telling to see the toll that fast food has taken on the Baldwin Park community. The moratorium is for new restaurants only, so the health situation is unlikely to actually improve thanks to this ban, just level off. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be renewed in nine months, but hopefully come next year residents will see that a few historic restaurants are nice, but sometimes a little moderation is in order.

Photo credit: Jeremy Hall via Flickr