Susan K.'s great sketch of an ice cream truck she did for her sister got me thinking about whether they still go around neighbourhoods. We see them at the beaches and parks, of course. As kids we loved hearing the ice cream truck and left playing softball, kick the can, cowboys and Indians, etc. to get money from our parents to buy ice cream.
This answer came up on Quora from Caroline Zelonka. Makes sense.
"They tend not to patrol the neighborhoods anymore, probably because kids are no longer allowed to roam the streets unsupervised, like they were a few decades ago.
Swing by a park or beach, however, and you’re likely to see a steady parade of ice cream trucks, as well as regular cars outfitted with coolers and aftermarket systems to project the familiar “ice cream truck” music.
When I was in college, I had a few friends who drove ice cream trucks. They all preferred the poor or working class neighborhoods. “The rich families have Haagen Dasz bars in their freezer,” they claimed. Plus, the lower-income areas tended to be more densely populated, and likely to draw more customers per block. (Ice cream trucks use up a lot of fuel, so the product sold/miles travel ratio needs to be high to make a profit.)"
