Damn, I would have never guessed that.  But it’s true.

That’s just one of the insights of a new “Food Truck Index” published recently by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.  The index covers food-truck regulations in 20 of America’s largest cities.

It examines three key metrics:  ease of obtaining permits and licenses; complying with restrictions, and operating a food truck.

It does so by relying on data regarding fees, trips to government agencies, and the number and degree of government procedures collected in part by surveying 288 food- truck operators.

The cities that fared worst were highly regulated, NIMBY cities like San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,  Boston and Seattle.

Philadelphia used to be in this category but over the past decade regulations have become more business-friendly, streamlined and less onerous.

As a result, Philadelphia ranks No. 4 among cities as one of the best places to operate a food truck, and ranks first among cities on the East Coast.

For example, Philadelphia leads on the second dimension of the index, which covers compliance with restrictions such as the number of feet a food truck must locate from a school.

The findings from the Food-Truck Index were recently published in CityLab by co-founder and editor at large Richard Florida.

As Florida observed, “the expansion of food trucks to include an array of more upscale fare is either a shining example of urban revival, or a looming indicator of runaway gentrification and escalating housing prices.”

Either way, food trucks are a significant and rapidly growing part of the economy of cities like Philadelphia.

However, that does not mean it’s easy to get started in the food-truck business, even in more increasingly entrepreneur-friendly cities like Philadelphia.

In the City of Brotherly Love, for example, food-truck operators must pay an average of $25,292 just to operate their trucks, make 24 trips to city agencies and comply with 13 procedures.

That being said, it may be time for some other cities to take a page from Philly’s foodie playbook.  With its vibrant restaurant scene, superb craft beer and coffee, augmented by entrepreneur-friendly regulation, food trucks are helping to reinvent and change Philadelphia for the better.