“People have gotten used to it now," said Chip Barry with the city of Knoxville. "They know how to use the app. They know how to go through the website. And people have grown accustomed to the process."

How do they know this? Is it because the app is being used and the parking spaces are used? Are there people who want to park on the street or did park on the street but now don't?

Since May, the city has issued more than 17,000 parking citations.

How does this compare to before the new system? The headline says more citations. Thus, does this add up to people are happy with the new process? Have people become accustomed or are they frustrated resulting in more citations?

It's very annoying to take the time to use the app when you don't know if it costs to park, how long is allowed, and what it's going to cost. I'm especially annoyed in front of the public library when I used to be able to run in for a couple quarters. I agree they should post the times required and allowed and rates.

I've heard Asheville has shiny new meters. If you want to appeal to visitors and us Olds that is the way to go.

Guess TPTB figure there are enough hipsters with phones permanently attached that they don't have to think about the rest of us. Let's cater to bon vivants who want to expand their drinking sessions (I'm looking at you Lauren Rider) over those of us who go downtown for business or worship.

Instead of putting an item from the downtown library on hold right there I'll send it to South Knox - 2 miles out of my way rather than 2 blocks. I feel for the library clerk who had to tell me it made sense to spend 20 minutes parking at walnut street to pop in for 2 minutes to pick up a hold.

Interesting that the headline says higher use. It seems there are more empty spaces in the core of downtown. Higher use is due to many more spaces on the outskirts converted to pay, including those at the door of the long time Democratic HQ.

I assume the subtext is the city spent so much money on a baseball stadium for Randy Boyd they have to make up for it with this added revenue.

I wonder if the actual negatives are even known to the city....does anyone know anyone in the govt. who might think this is a valid question?

Higher use is due to many more spaces on the outskirts converted to pay,...

I'm not sure about this and I surely don't reflexively believe anything the city's flacks (internal and external) might have to say about much of anything. I used to park daily on S. Central back in the good old days, when they had those sweet flesh-and-blood meters.

S. Central used to be pretty full most of the time down past Marble Alley all the way to where you hop onto Neyland. Now, it's like a semi deserted village in a plague year.

My theory is that this forlornity has something to do with the fact that the cost to park down yonder more than tripled as we pivoted to modernity. Park all day down there now, and you'll pay a cool ten bucks or more per day. I don't see the value in that shit at all, except for that provided to our dumbly rapacious city, the parking barons in cahoots with Indya, and the PR types who like to tell us to pretend that the new parking regime is such a public gift, so I did what any resourceful cheap basturd would do and found a private alternative which sets me back less than an actually-cool buck fitty a day.

I don't mind the tech at all. I'm down with that. I wouldn't even be opposed to a reasonable fee increase. I just don't like that I'm expected to contribute so much to the high cost of the grift, and grin real broad while I do it.