Is there anyone online here who has been involved in getting dog parks through the city's system to completion? Orianna, Seger, Mario Lanza, etc?

And - anyone with statictics on dog parks in cities? Acceptance rates, crime deterrence, etc?

I'm working on a little project...

I was on the fringes of Mario Lanza, but I don't think I can help you much. I mainly attended some meetings, voted yay or nay on suggested park designs, etc. I had no interaction with the Fairmont Park Commission or the local politicos, so don't know how it "officially" came to be. I also have no statistics, although I believe that those in QV who advocated for the park did have some, mainly about crime rates, if I recall correctly.

What I canl say, however, is that the institution of the dog run was a significant positive turning point for Queen Village. I know that sounds like a bit of hyperbole, but I'm pretty serious about that. Before there was the dog area, dog owners (and I'm one of them) would let their dogs run free throughout the entire park and non-dog owners, including many parents, would complain that they couldn't enjoy the park. Non-dog owners would call the cops to hand out expensive tickets to dog owners who had their dogs off leash, and dog owners would deliberately not clean up dog poop to spite the non-dog owners. And everyone in the neighborhood took a side and stuck to it. The result was a pretty vicious split in the neighborhood and the animosity between the two groups, their utter loathing of one another, made accomplishing *anything* else in the neighborhood impossible.

The dog run, while not making everyone 100% happy (dog owners wanted the whole run of the park, non-dog owners wanted no run at all), really ended the strife for all intents and purposes. The neighborhood is no longer split down the middle by dogged behavior, and people can and do focus on other issues facing the area.

---Shosh

Did you ever get an answer to your question about starting dog parks? I live in Society Hill and wish there were more and better kept places that were fully gated /enlcosed where I could let my dog run off his leash. Any suggestions? Maybe I just don't know where they are? There is a seemingly unused plot of land on spruce near front that many dogs go to but its not gated and a simple gate would really make the land useful.

For an example of how a dog park can become a complete civic failure, I invite you to search for the term in the Fairmount/Art Museum forum, where you will find plenty of material, regrettably.

I know the park you mean and am familiar with it. Also very familiar with the dog run at Lanza (I get around ). Also one up in West Philly (I cant' remember the name of it).

The one in West Philly seems very well managed (at least from what I saw last time I went by there) and maintained.

The one up by Fairmount was a cesspool and eyesore with reports of "professional" dog walkers using it all day long for fun and profit. It ruined what could have been a nice park.

Lanza is turning into a pooly maintained mud pit.

The West Philly one (assuming it remains well managed and maintained) is an example that it cann be done right. I don't know what they did or how they did it. Maybe the people in that neighborhood have different attitudes, I don't know. My sense is they strictly limit its use (number of dog owners who use it and just people from the immediate neighborhood) so the area can handle the traffic without being ruined and also revoke use privileges for anyone who doesn't follow the rules.

The Lanza area is an example where it's just too much for its users to maintain. The wood chips (or whatever that stuff is) starts to rot very quickly and get muddy and not particularly attractive for what's supposed to be a park. I can only imagine what's in the run off from that place headed into the river.

I spend enough time in QV and I can't say the Lanza park is keeping piles off the sidewalk although lately it seems there is an increase of disrepectful dog owners leaving their presents everywhere throughout the city so hard to say what's related to what. Winter always seems worse in that respect for some reason.

I don't see any effective realistic solutions to these issues but it is annoying at times. Everyone I know with a dog is respectful of the community and cleans up after it. It only takes a few knuckle heads to turn the city sidewalks into a mine field.

__________________

– Brigadier General Julius C. Holmes
Allied Forces Headquarters
4 March 1943

Too funny Niel!
No argument there.

A new dog run has been opened at 12th and Reed in South Philly at Columbus Square . I think the SPADO or South Philadelphia Dog Owners group would be the one's to contact about organizing and maintaining this particular run. There's currently a advisory council forming at this park and a survey is available at their website columbussquarepark.org.