.

"If We Just Had Enough Parking,
Business Would Thrive."

How many hours of the lives of downtown business people, city staff and assorted others have been tallied up in this useless discussion? How many dollars have been extracted from local taxpayers and federal coffers to tear down more buildings in order to build more parking lots that have little effect? How many of our downtowns contain large, dirty, mostly unused parking lots while people continue the chorus of "We don't have enough parking!"

Parking is definitely a subject which constantly requires attention and management. Less frequently, however, does it require additional space.I challenge retailers to understand that they could have a parking lot the size of a football field in front of their stores, but, if they don't understand their customers' needs and desires, and if they are not offering prices that make sense to the customer and are providing them service in a pleasant atmosphere, the parking lot won't matter. And, if they are doing all of these important things, they aren't going to have time to whine about parking.