So . . . you’re talking about Ximending.
I still think the food in that district is decidedly subpar. It wouldn’t occur to me to go there to eat.
Guy
Surely it’s easy to get a mouthful.
ya, that’s what I was saying people go there to shop. the food is shit, but it has quite drastically changed for. at least some night market feel to being more and more shitty restaraunt.
noone is saying it’s a good place, just that it used to be a more free place 
police have changed hat a LOT in recent years. for better ir worse.
it still remains a shit hole, just less interesting and supportive of local jobs like before 
This ! Less young people as also done it in along with gentrification. In Kaoshuing the like area is full for rent signs and less gentrification.
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When people want more rule of law, this is the inevitable outcome.
Hard choice. Freedom to sell food, and have loads of variety. Or, government cracks down and we jist get the legally issued slop. The situation is becoming so. There are both pros and cons for both sides.
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I don’t even like ximen anymore. Apart from the gay sauna there’s no reason to go there. Everything’s overpriced and low quality. Considering exact same food is available in xinjhuan for less.
There’s that electronic markets but it’s a shithole, and to top that off it’s expensive (no deals to be had)
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I think zones are good answers , you have zoned areas where exceptions to standard practice are allowed.
I agree. But there are droves of voters that will bring down the party they didn’t vote for in such instances. It isn’t so easy. Especially when the government is literally the rule of law on food safety. I honestly am not sure how it can possibly work without a well educated, in intelligence AND in self responsibility, society. So far, it doesn’t seem feasible to have it both ways given the current norms
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Still a few old places that are nice, though that is going away as some move. And as you say not a cheap youth area it once was. I find the area around NTU has better and cheaper choices for food now.
That area (Gongguan side) is also full of “FOR RENT” signs.
Starbucks has given up and vacated their older three story shop.
Many of the pointlessly repetitive Nike shops are now “FOR RENT.”
Gongguan looks to me like a shell of its former self.
Guuy
Ximen is the worst area in Taipei for street food or any food generally. A few spots are passible if in the area but definitely not a food destination.
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Not only that, but the food’s expensive and is not all that good. There are better places for food. Xinjhuan is not bad for this because it caters to working class and so their prices aren’t absurd.
Touristy places have absurd prices.
This place is really good.
I guess foreigners just don’t know the good places. All the best places I go to are almost always only filled with locals.
There is always some good food to be found even in the worst food neighborhoods, but that doesn’t mean that neighborhood is good for food.
Usually when someone says a neighborhood is great for food, it means you can just randomly walk into almost any place and expect good food.
Don’t be ridiculous. We’re in Taiwan, which is great for food. You just need to know the one in two hundred places where they serve it. It’s a you problem, not a Taiwan problem. 
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I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: buy a Japanese language guide to Taipei City and check out some of the recommendations therein. That’s one way to cut through the noise, quickly.
Guy
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A great option for those who read Japanese. Thanks for the extremely useful advice. 
Can you read Chinese characters? Can you read addresses in Chinese? Can you use translation functions on a phone?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above, then the guidebook recommendation is actually workable!
Guy
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So, McDonald’s? Same here.
I can read Chinese characters, but most words in a typical Japanese sentence is not written in Kanji.
Yes, but just because a restaurant is included in a guidebook doesn’t mean it’s suitable for everyone. I need to know why it’s recommended.
For example, a guidebook might say “give this place a try, but avoid it if you’re in a hurry”. Well, if I didn’t read Japanese I’d miss that crucial information.
You mean take a picture of every page of the guidebook and then do a smart image-to-text selection on my phone, and then copy and paste it into Google Translate? Yeah, no thanks.