TWIN FALLS, ID (KMVT) For hundreds of years, Main Street has been the heart of towns all over the United States.

But times change, and so do peoples' buying habits. Will downtown Twin Falls ever see another big boom? Some local citizens say it could, if it can do what it takes to draw shoppers back downtown.

Shopper Susan Eastwood says, "Just the big number one is that parking meter. I have no idea why, but it gives me great anxiety. I've always got a quarter in my purse but I'm not sure, and where should I go park? Maybe I just won't go. Sorry, that's what happens. Isn't that silly?

People have been talking about the parking meters in downtown Twin Falls for several years now. Should they stay, or should they go? There are plenty of customers and merchants on both sides of the issue.

Jim Wageman, co-owner of Native Skin Tanning, says, "I think it's a little bit outdated. We get 70 percent of our business through credit and debit cards. People don't carry cash, they don't carry change. It's an inconvenience for them."

Parking meters have pulled in 37 thousand dollars a year for the last three years. That's money that many people don't want to spend when the economy's tight.

19 out of 25 downtown merchants in an official city survey said they wanted to keep the parking meters. One of those business owners says you can't take out the meters and do away with leased parking, because then what would keep owners and employees from parking out front where spaces should be reserved for customers?

Michele Hamilton, co-owner of Scrappin' Girlfriends, says, "It's 25 cents, for goodness sakes, and you're five steps from the shop you want to go into. If you're out at the mall, it doesn't cost you anything for parking, but you may have half a mile walk from where you parked to where you're going to go."

Hamilton says if parking meters went away downtown, then there would be a standard two hour parking limit, and then the problem would be enforcing that law. In short, the parking puzzle in downtown Twin Falls isn't something that can be solved with just a snap of your fingers.

Tune in again tomorrow for part two of this series when Jay Michaels looks at a longtime downtown Twin Falls business that had to move out to the Magic Valley Mall to survive.

Feb. 2, 2012.