Imagine standing on a line for 30 minutes just to buy an ice cream or a bottle of water on a hot summer evening.

Such waits might make someone think twice about visiting a destination — and the lack of a quick place to buy a drink certainly could be viewed even as a health hazard.

When large crowds gather in various areas of the city, food trucks often help pick up the slack, or are even the draw for such traffic. But in Bricktown this past holiday weekend, not a single food truck could be found, though they are commonly part of similar gatherings in competing districts like Midtown, Automobile Alley, Film Row and the Plaza District.

There’s a reason for this: More than a dozen years ago, people who led Bricktown — folks no longer involved or even alive — dictated to the city that more prohibitive rules be established to prevent food trucks from doing business in the district.