Downtown Redding Parking

Downtown Redding Parking: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Downtown Redding Parking: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Steve:
In today's episode, we connect with City of Redding transportation planner Zach Bonin and Julie Dixon from Dixon Resources Unlimited to dive into the downtown parking program launching soon. There have been a lot of good questions from the community about parking, and we wanted to get the answers from the experts.

Katie:
We learn how parking turnover is key to the success of downtown businesses and how the new program will address this. In fact, Julie highlights three other cities in California that saw downtown businesses grow as a result of the paid parking program, which is counterintuitive.

Steve:
Right? Also, this program is not a revenue generator for the city. So why would the city do this at all? We'll find out about the goal of the program and how Julie has helped other municipalities figure out a parking strategy that works for them.

Katie:
One thing is clear parking is a big deal with many passionate opinions. However you feel about parking downtown, this episode should give you more information about the strategy behind the decisions that were made, but be sure to visit City of Redding dot org slash downtown parking for all the specific details. So Zac, how did the City of Redding connect with Julie Dixon and Dixon Resources Unlimited to help plan our parking strategy for downtown Redding?

Zach Bonnin, City Planner:
Dixon Resources was a consultant that the city obtained as part of our overall look at the downtown parking. Due to some previous studies that were done. And so we've been looking at this for five, six years now. And throughout that process we realized we need a little bit more expertise in the parking realm to bring on this type of parking program. So we were directed towards the best of the best of parking as Julie Dixon Consulting, and she's done a lot of the parking programs throughout the western United States. I'm glad to have her on board today, So I'd like to turn it over to her to answer some of these questions at this point. Perfect. Thanks. I can welcome Julie. If you could just start off by telling us a little bit about your background with parking programs.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Absolutely. My name is Julie Dixon. I've actually worked in the parking and transportation industry for well over 30 years. I actually started as a parking enforcement officer when I was in college. And over this last almost two decades, I've supported some of the largest parking operations actually in the country, including the cities of San Francisco and city of Los Angeles. And over the last ten years, with my own business, I've supported municipalities just like Redding all across the country. And our goal and objective is to always make parking easy, convenient and accessible.

Katie:
Wow, that is awesome. And that's we'll just dive right into some of the parking questions that we get and that we hear from the community as we start to roll out a new parking program in downtown. So why does the city of Redding need a parking program? Why does any city need a parking program?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Yeah, that's a really great question. Why a city needs a parking management program really comes down to curb access. When we're talking about a commercial core like downtown Redding, you want to be able to offer transitions at the curb, basically, so that customers have a place, a convenient place to park, for that matter. And whether it means running in to grab something at a shop or whether it means being able to go grab a sandwich at the local restaurant, you want to be able to make sure that your customers have that convenient and accessible parking location, and you want to make sure that people only stay for a designated amount of time so that another customer can park in that space. And one of the things that's happened in time in Redding, just as amount of resources and commitment has been that we found that maybe folks are staying for longer terms, meaning that employees of the various businesses or even business owners have found that it's more convenient to park out in front of the various shops and businesses. And that basically is really creating limitations for customer parking and customer availability. So really starting to really make the curb more dynamic so that you have available parking. The goal of a successful parking program is to make sure that there's always one or two parking spaces available per block space, and that's when, you know, you really achieve success. And when we talk about the deployment of a parking management program like we're doing in Redding is we want to make sure that we're measuring the performance of the program and some of the outcomes where we can know that the program has been successful. And something that we've seen in other communities is actually the increase in sales tax. And we've been able to demonstrate through other projects where we've actually seen in locations where you have active parking management solutions, where you actually can see that impact and increase on sales tax, meaning that more customers are accessing those businesses primarily tied to parking availability.

Steve:
Well, and Julie, that's a great point because that's definitely something we hear quite a bit as as we've begun to roll out this program, is that not having that free parking downtown will actually hurt downtown businesses. And it sounds like that isn't actually the case and that hasn't been true in other cities that you've partnered with.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Yeah, that's a really great point. And sometimes folks will look at this and they'll say, is this just a money grab for the city? And I can attest to the. Fact that it's not this is an investment on the city really in the commercial core to be able to provide that parking, accessibility and availability. And the fact of the matter is having time limits and having hourly rates is strictly a goal is to turn the curve, meaning you have turnover at the curb so you can provide that parking availability. We are looking at this model to be cost sustainable over a five year period, but this is something that the city is really making that investment into the commercial core so that we can encourage parking availability. And one of the things that we've really seen this happen in other communities is that stimulation for growth and redevelopment within the downtown core, when you can provide availability and make sure that it's convenient for customers to come and park, they're more likely to come to that area. And when you start to see that increase in traffic, it also encourages other businesses and invites other investments in the downtown community. And it's something that we're really seeing stimulate growth in other communities. When you can demonstrate that, you can guarantee that parking availability. And that's something that we'll monitor and measure through data collection. That's really what starts to really change the interest in the downtown.

Katie:
And this question might put you a little on the spot, Julie, but can you pull it, for instance, for us? Like can you give us another community that you've helped in the past that either didn't have a parking program or maybe had a limited parking program and then rolled out a paid parking program and you've seen dramatic changes in just the health of their downtown?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Absolutely. Actually, I have three of them. The first one I'll tell you about that I think is probably the most similar to Redding is the city of Paso Robles, California. For those of you who haven't been to Paso, it's basically in central California, has become a very popular tourist destination. They have a very quaint, charming downtown. And this was a community that didn't even have a time limits, let alone paid parking. And this was a community that pre-pandemic launched, successfully launched a parking management solution. And it's one of the reasons why I can speak to the sales tax drivers because of the fact that we had several key stakeholders that criticized the city and said that we were actually driving business away. We actually, the city manager, made the investment to evaluate sales tax data, and that was the location where we could show citywide sales tax revenue actually decreased. But in the area that was managed by parking, we actually saw a 3% plus increase in sales tax. So that was a community where, in fact tonight they're going to city council to actually make their next parking management change. Even during the pandemic, Paso Robles was one of the only communities throughout the country where they were actually able to make policy changes. In the case of Paso, they expanded their program to include weekends and evening hours, all driven by data. And because of the fact that they were able to provide parking availability, we continue to see that dynamic at the curbside.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Another example is a nearby community in the Bay Area, which is the city of San Leandro. San Leandro has some similarities to Redding, where the program basically needed some attention and they had parking meter equipment that was very much outdated. And right before the pandemic they made the investment in the infrastructure and in the resources. And what happened was the pandemic stalled some of the improvements. But coming out of the pandemic right now because of proactive management of the curb, they've actually had some microbreweries invest into their downtown community. And with San Leandro right now, we're actually going to council to, in that case, expand the parking program into the evening hours because of the fact that the dynamic at the curb and the demand has grown as a result of this parking management solution. It basically generated the interest in these businesses to invest in the community because they saw the city really investing in that dynamic curb to bring more customers and more attention to the downtown core. And the last one that I'll mention, you might be surprised to know that the city of Napa does not have a paid parking solution today. And what they've been doing over the last several years is proactively managing the time limits throughout their downtown.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
And for those of you who are familiar with Napa, there's also a district called the Oxbow, and in both of their cases, been collecting data consistently to demonstrate the demand and the need so that now Napa is readying themselves for the launch of a paid parking model as well. And I can say that their rates will come in likely substantially. Really higher than reading. And so just to again, reinforce, when we talk about the dynamic nature of the curve, it's really defined by the community in which the program is managed and to really kind of build up that demand for that dynamic management of the curve. And that's something where I think that's going to be important is for folks to recognize, even for the programs that I described there, there's no one size fits all solution. And the important part of this is to recognize this is not the last time we'll be talking about parking, parking management and also policy updates and changes. Something about parking that I hope we can all appreciate is it's a vital aspect of any commercial core, including in reading, and it's a conversation that needs to be ongoing. This is a program that will evolve and adapt, and even any of the three examples that I used, those are all programs that continue to be adaptive and adjust based on the demand of that community.

Katie:
Thank you, Julie. Those were great examples. I wanted to turn it over to Zack for this next question, because we've heard people say it's going to hurt downtown businesses. You've just gave three great examples where their downtown actually saw more business because of this. Zach What are the downtown business owners that you're talking to actually say? Do they have thoughts on this parking program? Are they looking forward to it? Are they hesitant about it?

Steve:
I've talked to a couple of business owners who have been excited about the program because what they've said is just what Julie's been explaining, that the lack of parking in front of their businesses has been hurting them and they haven't had a chance for their customers to come down and find a spot or two in front of their businesses. And so they are kind of anxious to see this roll out and have been relatively positive. I mean, one of their biggest complaints that we've heard is there's not enough parking. Everybody recognizes that there's plenty of parking. It's just not managed very well. And so we need to figure out how to adjust that a little differently and mean from both those answers. It sounds like when we hear folks say, well, we're not San Francisco, we're not LA, we live in Redding because we want the conveniences of things like free parking. Really, At the end of the day, this parking program is not a profit maker for the city. It's truly to support and ensure the good health of these small businesses downtown. Absolutely. I mean, our goal out here is to, number one, make sure that the downtown is healthy and is activated and that that walkability is a big part of the downtown specific plan. And so if we can incorporate those goals of the specific plan to make it an active, walkable downtown parking falls into place with that very well. And so this this program will then help activate downtown.

Katie:
Okay. So then let's move to the other things that we hear from the community, which are around employee parking, that there's a lot of employees who work downtown and now they're going to have to start paying for parking. And we are working on an employee program, which I do want to ask about exactly what that works. But how do you account for employee parking when you're creating a parking strategy?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Julie Absolutely. So one of the things that we know just as a parking theory is that customers don't like to walk more than one or two blocks. And then when you add the summer heat or the winter rain into those factors, that can be even more magnified. So one of the things that we want to make sure that our downtown businesses and employees are really thinking about is, you know, when you're coming to work at the beginning of the day, you really need a place to and I'm going to use the term store, your car. Storing your car in front of that business front is basically taking premium parking away from your customers. So what we want to do is identify convenient perimeter locations that are still walkable. They might just be a couple more blocks. But the fact is, is that, you know, you can park your car, still access your car while providing the more convenient parking, the accessible parking for our customers. And I think that being able to identify an affordable location where people can conveniently access their car is really no different than being able to park in any other community for that matter. And that's one of the things where we want to make sure that we're maintaining that unique quaintness of reading and recognizing that, but also making sure that the folks, our visitors, our customers, our residents that want to visit downtown reading, we want to make sure that that customer availability is there for them.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
So having our employees and business owners being able to park more on the perimeter and walking to their businesses, maybe an extra block or two. But the fact is, working with the city and working with Zach, they've really pulled it out of being able to identify. There is, as Zach reinforced, there is actually plenty of parking in the downtown core. And that's part of our job is to help make sure people understand where that is so that if you're even coming down to shop for more than a couple of hours parking in one of the off street parking lots and being able to walk to the businesses makes it a little bit more of. Available for others as well that need that quick stop. So being able to have that perimeter locations for our employees and businesses is really a key objective to opening up that accessibility parking in the core.

Steve:
And one thing that we do here from time to time on that front is that some some folks do feel somewhat unsafe. Walking a longer distance from an outline parking lot to their place of business, what is the city? Again, Zach, maybe this is a question for you. I'm not sure. What is this city doing to address the walkability and safety of downtown?

Zach Bonnin, City Planner:
Really, We're looking at lighting is a big key to that. There are some projects right now that will really light up the core. We have some new streetlights that are going in with some new facilities that are being built right now. The alleyways and the main core will have some new lighting that will be even catenary lighting across the alley. So that is a key focus of ours, is to make sure that lighting is good and the safety and security, there's the new police officers downtown that are stationed there and that has really seen a lot of impact for that downtown core. And so we're moving in the right direction. And the active use of those streets actually helps. Now, the more people you have walking, the more people have out and having that active frontage on those sidewalks makes a big difference. And you feel more comfortable as you see more people out and out and about walking around.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
And I just really have to reinforce what Zach has said. The more folks that we can get to have that presence and basically that availability and visibility really does change the profile. And the other thing that we want to make sure is that with any of our downtown businesses and employees, especially those that are working the later hours, you know, walking with the buddy system, if at any point you see something, say something, you know, making sure to call in or report on areas of concern. We want to make sure that everyone feels safe. And we have done a lot of outreach through these preparations for this project. And we've had really great participation from our downtown businesses, especially through Viva and I think that hearing those concerns and making sure that we are all eyes and ears of the downtown I think is really a critical part of this. And I think that that's one of the things that I really appreciated, is this the familiarity and kind of family aspect of what I felt in the community in Redding. And I think that that's something that we just can't take for granted because that doesn't exist everywhere.

Katie:
And then just to get into some specifics, stock, maybe you can talk us through that employee parking program. How much is that going to be? How many are there available? How does somebody apply? Just some quick facts for any employees who might be listening and want more information.

Steve:
Yes, currently we are designating 175 employee parking spaces. We're going to be closely monitoring that. As as Julie says, it's a data driven number. And so we're going to look at that over the first few months and then determine how that's working and decide if that needs to change. But what you will be doing is buying that permit through the Flow Bird app and you can upload a W-2 or a paycheck or something from your employer that says that I am employed at this business and we will review that and then issue the permits after they have uploaded that information into the permit. So we'll take a review of that. And then once we've reviewed those pieces and found it adequate, then we'll we'll give the permit out. So one other thing is that those permits will cost $25 a month. They'll be purchased monthly, but you can renew them every month for these new parking spaces and paid parking areas. What I understand, and they're enforced and charged from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Outside of those times, on evenings and weekends, it's free to park in those spaces. How were those days and hours determined and how is the cost at $1 an hour determine?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Julie Yeah, so through basically comparable cities analysis was really looking at how other similar cities are operating. And again this is a starting point and then the ongoing data, as Zach mentioned, will be an important part of this process. Something else that I think is really important when we talk about the technology and the infrastructure, there's a lot of conveniences that the city is implementing as a result of this program. Not only will there be kiosks strategically located throughout the downtown, you'll also be able to set up an account on your phone as well as pay by text. So there's a lot of conveniences so that once you set up your account, you actually can initiate your parking sessions. The same will happen with the parking permit process for our employees is you'll be able to self manage your accounts and in some cases business owners that are looking to acquire the parking permits for their employees. We'll also have the opportunity to I'll call it, manage permits and bulk. So we've tried to introduce every convenience possible to make it very easy for people to be able to manage their parking experience. And when we talk about kind of the break even point, it's something that as time goes along.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
We really are looking at basically a five year forecast to really look at kind of that break even. So that's why I really want to reinforce the fact that when folks think that this is a money generator, it really is about developing a sustainable solution that really pays for itself and just really manages and ensures availability at the curb to bring more customers into the downtown. And that's something that we'll be able to manage and monitor. When I was mentioning those metrics and the key really comes down to the parking theory is when your curb space is at 85% occupancy or greater, it basically demonstrates when you need to start to make parking management decisions. So the examples that I was using earlier of other cities are examples of locations that through data is when they've decided that they needed to make policy changes. And we're still obviously at the early stages for reading. But I'm very optimistic that through the ongoing management and monitoring of the data, reading will hopefully very quickly be in a position to really start to identify that roadmap and those targets and being able to inform council and the community when and if changes are needed.

Katie:
And we've mentioned it a couple of times, but I don't think we've actually spelled it out. The mobile app and the text to park option that's coming into reading by Flo Bird. This is technology that reading hasn't used to date, but it's a technology that a lot of cities use for parking. How do these kinds of technologies really enhance the parking experience or make it easier to park than people might be assuming?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
You know, great question, because what it really comes down to is finding the piece of the puzzle that works for you is that if I don't want to touch anything on my phone, I don't want to download an app number one, I can always text and not have to load anything on my phone, but I can also go to the kiosk and in some cases I could pay with coin or I could just slide my credit card and initiate the parking session. And that's where when we look at kind of the treasure trove of opportunities, we've tried to implement every option available. And this is where I was like to look at the silver lining with reading being in the position that they are, we've able to leverage a lot of the enhancements and services that have been proven in other communities and effectively bring a turnkey solution to reading for launch so that you'll really be able to find what works best for you. Because not everybody has a mobile phone, not everybody texts, not everybody likes to use a credit card. So we wanted to make sure that we provided all of the conveniences to the community and trying to make it as easy as possible. The one thing I really want to reinforce is there are no secrets in this parking management solution. We want everyone to know about it. We want everyone to follow the rules. And that's really one of the reasons why we want to make sure that everybody gets that messaging out there. And it's one of the reasons why the city is really getting that information out. We have a big education and outreach program tied into this, and the fact is we want to make sure that there are no surprises and that we want to make sure that everybody understands how it works.

Steve:
How does this program address resident parking downtown and maybe those residents that live just outside the downtown core, as well as ADA parking. And I guess for the residents themselves, there are some residents who might be concerned at this point that those folks being displaced from downtown who are now looking for those outlying spots might then go park in the residential spots and potentially jam up some of the parking in the residential neighborhoods.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
No, it's something that being prepared for what we call spillover parking is something that we are ready for. And the fact is, is that the updates for the municipal code are things that we're basically prepared for. We can all look at our crystal balls and try to predict what's going to happen. But until you start to manage the parking resources, we don't truly know where cars might start to pop up, but we basically have the tool kit in place so that when we need to take action, maybe in neighborhoods that are being influenced by maybe some spillover parking, we have the tools in place so that we can basically effectively manage or mitigate those policies. And so the one good news for reading is, you know, this isn't only happening in a community like Redding, so knowing kind of how to be prepared for those types of impacts is something that again, we've readied the code and the city is prepared if at which time that those policies have to be influenced and things like ADA parking and making sure that there's an adequate number of disabled parking spaces, making sure that they're labeled accordingly, those are all factors that have basically been tied into this, because when we talk about parking being easy, convenient and accessible, we want to make sure.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Again, that parking is readily available for customers of all ages, of all types and of all capabilities. And that's going to be something that when we talk about kind of a holistic way of looking at this, I don't want to make it sound like we have every single answer because that's where when the program launches. That's why the adaptability aspect of being prepared to make adjustments and adaptations. And so feedback is encouraged. And I know that it's something that it's never easy to launch a new program. And again, we're asking the community to maybe do something different or to again, change maybe behaviors that they've been experiencing for quite some time. And so we're just asking that everybody understand that we are looking at this as an investment in the downtown. And something that we're really excited about with the positive impacts will be.

Katie:
There is some confusion in our community over what lots the county provides and what lots the city provides. How is the county dealing with parking for employees and the new courthouse and what lots are often confused between the two?

Steve:
Yeah, the one lot the county maintains is the parking garage at the corner of West Street and Shasta Street. And so that one is maintained by the county. It does have some pay stations at the bottom, but that won't be managed by the city at all and that will stay as is. And so if you're visiting the administration building or some of those other county buildings that will be managed by them, the two private lots downtown are managed privately. The large parking garage on California street, which has about 400 spaces, and then the spot underneath Market Center, which has an additional 60 spaces, which is open to the public. But they charge a dollar per hour, 24 seven. And so that's a little bit different than our system, and that's all managed by them privately, not through the.

Katie:
City, but it is a max, right? So you don't pay $24 for the whole day. You do max out at a certain point.

Steve:
That's correct. They max it out at $8 per day.

Katie:
Julie, you mentioned that we're going to follow up on this program, as you do with other cities, to kind of monitor it and see how it's going. How frequently do you revisit with cities? How frequently are you going to visit with City of Redding and say, yep, this is working, $1 is working, our program is working, we're good to go or and if it's not good, do you read just do you revisit those rates or hours even? How does that process work?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
I'll just say all of the above. So frankly, when this project launches, number one, monthly monitoring is going to be really important from a trend analysis perspective, what ends up happening once a project launches, you're typically looking at quarterly updates, quarterly comparisons, and then honestly, depending upon the frequency at which council wants to receive those updates too. I would imagine that with a project that is as significant as this, as kind of the relaunch of the parking program will likely have a report after, like I said about the first quarter, I would think, because you've got to kind of let things level out and the lessons learned, we're going to have a big warning period. But being able to show that trending and being able to really see that, you know, there's lots of line graphs and neat things that we're able to demonstrate to show the effectiveness of the program. But that's also where if there's any adjustments or tweaks and working with city staff will identify, maybe we need an additional sign in this location or maybe this space station location is not ideal. Those kind of little tweaks and adjustments are really going to be where you'll see really kind of everything settling in over the first several months. But I would anticipate that with the program being what it is, being able to report out to the various community groups, especially like the downtown business groups, I think that that will happen with parking is already spoken about at those regular meetings. So I imagine that this will become something that will just become part of Zack's process, being able to provide those parking updates. And then again, the frequency at which we update council sometimes becomes driven by recommendations for adaptations or changes.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
And then that's something that really is again, driven by the data. So not knowing kind of how fast or how slow the process will go, the data really truly will speak for itself to be able to generate or garner recommendations or policy adjustments based on that. And that's where every community is a little bit different. But I will say after the first quarter or the first three months of data gathering, it'll really kind of be able to set some of the measures and objectives and really kind of what to watch for or maybe potential areas, hot spots or areas that need more attention. And that's something that I'm very excited about because the city will have insight, honestly, immediate insight to the information compared to what it's been in the past. I think for those who have heard me speak before about the program, Redding has some of the oldest parking meters. That I've ever come across in my entire career. And that's something that really says a lot about the program. And so this is going to be a big jump into the current era of parking management and one in which I think will very much serve the community very, very well. And most importantly, that consistency throughout the downtown, because I think that that's something that we're really the most excited about, is you want parking to be predictable, you want to know what the expectation is when you come to the downtown. And I think that that's what part of this transformation and relaunch is really going to bring to the community.

Steve:
And Julie, I'm curious, too, are there additional metrics, analytics and I guess the ability to make, as you mentioned, those kind of key data driven decisions by use of the mobile app and and the text pay technology, does that open additional doors for the city and for yourself in those efforts to really make those data driven decisions?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Absolutely. And in fact, when you really look at all of the data points that we're going to have coming in, not only are we going to be leveraging the occupancy not only by block space, but also in the parking lots, we're going to really be able to leverage utilization. We're also going to be able to identify the percentage of folks that use pay by text versus the folks that walk up to the kiosk. And that's really going to be able to help us understand what we call our our Parker profile or our customer profile to really understand the drivers, no pun intended, for, you know, who's coming downtown and maybe there's marketing opportunities. One of the neat things that we now have to, as a result of their customers, can opt in to getting messaging about events that are going on in the downtown. We can leverage the kiosks to promote upcoming festivals or events. If you opt in to receive messages via the mobile app, you can not only potentially identify a parking availability information, but also promotions that can be offered. And that's what's really neat is we're going to have a vast array of services and tools that we've never really had before. And those are things where too, like maybe during off peak times of the year you can provide a one time use or promotion codes, you know, for for neighboring residents and things like that to be able to come into the downtown. And that's what's really neat is that we have more resources to be able to provide a more dynamic experience in reading that we didn't really have before.

Steve:
How common is it? I mentioned earlier that Redding's model is a non revenue as essentially a break even model. Is that more common than parking programs being revenue generators for cities?

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
Well, in fact, what's interesting is is that so not to get all theoretical with everybody, but the rate differentials for curb management really come to the dynamic management of the curb. I know not everyone will want to buy into this, but the fact is, is that the reason why you have to set the rates to higher hourly values is sometimes it's the only way that you can change behavior at the curbside. Now, the positive is that revenue upside in some cases, but you also have to imagine the resources that have to go behind those higher rate models as well, too, which includes additional parking enforcement personnel and the resources associated with the management of that curb. So I just want to make sure that when we look at those models, you've got to look at them holistically. The time required for the planning of the program, the signage for the program, the enforcement of the program, the compliance of the program, the management of the program. There's a lot of bells and whistles that go into the curbside management. That's why when people ask me what I do and I tell them I'm a parking consultant and they laugh at me, but then I think to myself, Look at how you parked here today. You have to realize what goes into the management of a parking program. So many times people say, Well, why do it anyways? And the fact is, is that if you don't have parking management in a commercial core, the behaviors have proven that the business owners and employees will typically park out in front of the businesses and they will store their car for their entire shift.

Julie Dixon, Dixon Resources Unlimited:
And that's not leaving parking availability for the customers. And so when you look at that sustainability model, that's really when you talk about that positive trend towards where you start to see revenue generation, it's because you're starting to mitigate and manage the curve proactively. And that's where if demand justifies it, that's when you start to influence behavior by changing rates where by no means there. And in fact we're just right there in the median. When we talked about the comparable cities analysis, I think Redding could have come in with an even higher hourly rate based on the comparisons to other cities. But the fact is they really are coming in at this model and then let the data drive the rest of it so that that way, if recommendations have to be made for increases, the data will drive that to be able to dictate what's actually happening at the curb right now. Again, none of our crystal balls are telling us what's going to happen. We have some anticipations of what will happen, but the data will really dictate and influence.

Steve:
Those next steps.

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