Tim May wrote:
In article , Albert
Worschey wrote:

Good reasons suggested so far. I've also heard that many of them
started out there, though I haven't looked up the data myself. You're
right though about the limited selection in the NJ-PA area. It's tough
reading all these discussions (in aff-f) about Del Taco, JitB, etc. with
no frame of reference.

To the list of good reasons submitted so far, I would add two others:

1. Economy in decline in the Northeast. Fast food franchises have
tended to expand rapidly in booming areas, not declining refinery or
steel towns.

2. The toll road system. It's been awhile since I was in a car in
Penn/NJ/NY, but my recollection was of a lot of toll roads, with
limited access points.

Fast food places grow like mushrooms at the onramps and offramps and
cloverleafs of our freeway system. In-N-Out, for example, almost always
tries to find a location where there large yellow and red signs are
visible from a mile away and where motorists can decide to exist at the
offramp, grab a burger, and get back on the highway.

What if they decide not to exist?


This is possible to do on toll roads, but at much higher cost and
hassle. (I suppose the fast food chains could cut deals to locate on
the actual toll road...I recall that this is how Howard Johnson
operated. Makes it hard for newer FF chains to do the same.)

In California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, places I am well
familiar with, there are very few toll roads. (One I know of is in
Southern California, linking San Juan Bautista to Irvine, about a
20-mile private stretch. And, sure enough, limited access points and no
clusters of fast food chains and gas stations at the access points.)

In Florida, there are both freeways ("free") and toll roads. On one
long toll road from Fort Lauderdale down to the tip, we passed no fast
food places at all. On the neighboring highway, hundreds of them.


There's fast-food every 40 miles, or so, on the FL Turnpike and the
access is much easier than exiting off of I95 or I75.


I don't think this is the primary reason for fewer FF places, just
something to add to the list.


--Tim May