By Enya Bours, Dixon Resources Unlimited

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When I first joined DIXON, I told myself I didn't know anything about the parking and transportation industry, and that I probably never would. My colleagues came from planning and municipal backgrounds, while I was a freelance designer with a degree in communication. Parking felt like a foreign language.

What I didn't expect was how much my background overlapped with parking. A well-designed parking program is ultimately a user experience problem. How do people find a space, understand the rules, pay without friction, and leave without frustration? But recognizing that took something I had quietly let go of – a growth mindset.

For a while, feeling like an outsider made me close off rather than open up, and I believed that because I hadn’t studied planning or policy, I had nothing meaningful to contribute. Then I started solving problems the way I knew how, using design and communication to translate complex ideas into something clear and accessible.

I remember one of the moments when it clicked for me: I was sitting in a meeting with my colleagues, working through how to best tell our story through a single flyer. I had joined expecting to absorb, take notes, and defer, because after all, they were the industry experts. But as they were debating amongst themselves, I realized I actually had something to say. So, I jumped in and shared my perspective. My teammates welcomed my opinions, and by the time I left the meeting, I felt energized in a way I hadn’t before. That’s when I started to see that parking wasn’t so much a foreign, one-dimensional subject but rather a nuanced one that involves money, politics, technology, and most importantly, people.

Now I have a curiosity for this industry that I didn't expect. Paid parking isn't just cities collecting money; it's a question of who funds public amenities and who benefits from them. Every city is navigating the tension between designing for the car and designing away from it. And at its core, so much of it is a communication problem: how cities earn buy-in, explain tradeoffs, and ensure that something as simple as a wayfinding sign actually makes sense to the person reading it. There are no clean answers, and that's exactly what makes it interesting.

The DIXON team is also continuously learning and growing. We invest in new methodologies, improve our processes, and refine tools like the DIXON Data Suite® to stay ahead of our clients’ needs. Our staff retreats are for team building, but they are also opportunities to think together about where the industry is going and the impact we want to make.

At the industry level, the landscape is constantly shifting as well. Cities are rethinking how people move, EVs are reshaping infrastructure demands, and the debate between parking supply and public transit investment is far from resolved. The professionals who thrive in this space are the ones who stay curious, stay adaptable, and resist the urge to think they've seen it all.

Today, I walk into every room ready to learn something, because in this industry, there's always more to know than you think.