LA CROSSE, Wis.-- It's a problem that many people struggle with when heading downtown La Crosse, finding a parking spot.

Now the city and Downtown Mainstreet are working to solve that problem.

Finding a parking spot actually has a bigger impact than you think. It's kind of like a cycle -- If customers can't find a parking spot downtown then businesses could potentially lose money. If they lose money, then the local economy goes down.

Some say the solution to breaking the cycle could be guaranteeing yourself a parking spot.

When it comes to finding a parking spot in downtown La Crosse, Alexia Duschene doesn't want to take any chances.

“I feel like it's kind of luck if you find a parking spot and stuff on the streets,” said Duschene. “So, I think it's just easier to do the ramp.”

And Tim Kabat with Downtown Mainstreet says she's not the only one with that problem.

“We've witnessed many times where the all-day workers will come out and move their cars every two hours or so to another space,” said Kabat.

Kabat says retailers have always struggled to find available parking for their customers, making it hard to do business and the city agrees.

That's why Downtown Mainstreet and the city of La Crosse are urging those who work downtown to lease parking spots in ramps and keep streets open for customers.

“It’s to help and support the retail component of downtown and retail is a very strong component along with working and living and recreation amenities,” said Kabat. “So it's part of really the overall program of downtown.”

The city also recently increased fines for street parking violations hoping to encourage more usage of the ramps. But they have to be appealing to drivers first.

“It does go hand-in-hand,” said Kabat. “If you're asking people to park in the ramps, they should be safe, they should be clean, they should be well lit and they've not been maintained to the level that they should be.”

The city usually spends a little more than $1million every year for ramp maintenance –everything from clean stairwells, ramp lighting, and concrete repairs.  City officials say it's getting more difficult for this to all fit within the budget.

“As things get older, to maintain that same level of service, you have to do even more maintenance,” said Dale Hexom, La Crosse Public Works director. “So, as things age we have to try to be maintaining things at a higher level. It is about revenue, the ramps need to be maintained."

The city owns roughly 2500 parking spots in 4 parking ramps downtown. So far this year, only 550 of them have been leased to drivers.

To lease a spot is about $30 a month. It averages to about a dollar a day, which is cheaper than getting a few parking tickets.

The city plans to start installing pay stations in La Crosse parking ramps this summer with the idea of generating revenue for ramp upkeep.