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With city shutting unofficial dog park in JP, city councilor calls for dog park along Southwest Corridor
By adamg on Fri, 08/05/2016 - 1:21pm
City Councilor Matt O'Malley (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury), says he understands the need to keep dogs from running loose in the tiny Beecher Street Park. But O'Malley says the dog owners of JP need a place where their pets can legally roam free and socialize.
In a letter today to Leo Roy, commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, O'Malley says the Southwest Corridor Park through Jamaica Plain has more than enough land to spare some for a dog park.
It is centrally located, removed from residential dwellings, and offers the necessary space to allow for exercise and socialization of pets. I cannot underscore the benefits of a dog park; they are proven catalysts to enhance public safety and promote community.
There's already one dog park along the Southwest Corridor Park - in the South End.
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Comments
Why does he say "I cannot understand the benefits"
while arguing in favor of the thing he says he cannot understand?
ETA: Post has subsequently been edited, to say underscore.
He probably meant...
"I cannot understate the benefits" but autocorrect auto-uncorrected it.
Shouldn't he have said "overstate", in that case?
Yes, underscore
Another stupid mistake; where's my copy desk?
Unleashed dogs already
Unleashed dogs already practically outnumber people on the southwest corridor in JP.
Not enough shared space for
Not enough shared space for the growing usage. That's what happens when you try to grown an area with more usage.
Might as well
Unless a fence is installed between a hypothetical unleashed-dog-park along Southwest Corridor Park and the bike path, you might as well use an abandoned lot along any busy roadway - the result will be the same.
Heck,
there are so many off leash dogs running around Millennium Park in West Roxbury, just make part of that park an "official" space and there you go.
Alternatively
Seed it with landmines, and you'll get no more miscreants.
Sure
I love finding dog turds all over the soccer fields every Saturday. Sounds great.
Where along the SWC
could you put a dog park? Not snark--just wondering. The fact is there aren't a lot of spots that aren't taken up with other stuff--tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds, etc. and there's still a lot of residences that already deal with the noise of the train and so on. Near English? I still think Franklin Park might have more options but maybe it's too far for most JP folks.
Behind English would be my bet
That deck is seemingly underused and is basically a dog park now (caveat, I'm not over there a lot, so my observations should be taken with a grain of salt).
Of course, O'Malley forgets that the SWC is a DCR park, so we are talking about a different level of government altogether. And of course, putting up a fence is a capital cost that will be borne by whom?
I think that might be the best bet.
The houses on the South street side would get a bit of distance and no one at the school will be bothered by occasional barking.
How did he "forget that the
How did he "forget that the SWC is a DCR park"? This article is about a letter O'Malley emailed the Commissioner of the DCR.
Matt O'Malley
knows it's a DCR park. That's why he wrote to Leo Roy, new DCR commissioner.
Reading fail on my part
I'm blaming the heat today.
Not there please
That area is regularly used for organized and pickup games.
It's also already excessively noisy from the giant exhaust fans on top of English High as well as the usual boom-boom cars, ear blasting motorcycles and jets that fly directly over that area. Adding a lot of barking dogs adds salt to the wound.
Sally, you're right, not a lot of space
One place floated among some of the the dog owners was the area between New Minton and the parking lot, across Amory from the Brewery.
I've worked during the day near the dog park, and it has become VERY loud at times-- a few of the visitors are professional walkers, bringing multiple dogs, who bark and fight as dogs are wont to do. Maybe having a dog park at Franklin Park as well as one on the Southwest Corridor would be a good idea. Anything to avoid crowding.
You can't avoid crowding with
You can't avoid crowding with that many people, and they shouldn't turn multiple share open green spaces into dog areas. The suburbs have the space for large dogs.
You can't avoid crowding with
Why not? We have tennis courts for residents who play tennis, garden plots for residents who garden, toddler lots for those who toddle, and so on.
I don't have a dog, but if the demand is high enough, I don't object to green space becoming a dog park. There's no reason for people to leave the city over something like this if the problem can be easily resolved. The problem is not having enough dog parks for the number of dog owners who live here already. Increase that number. We have the space.
Because all those uses are for humans!
Who can interact together without shitting or biting each other's, usually.
The weak link here is irresponsible owners. If they trained and cleaned up after there dogs they'd probably be a lot more welcome.
They simply don't. Therefore they are not.
I want to see all dogs on public on leash and cleaned up after always.
I oppose any more benefits until this is established.
Do you think a dog park isn't for humans?
People in the city want dogs. Dog owners socialize around dog parks. People love and bond with dogs and want to take care of them by giving them exercise and a chance to play with other dogs. Dogs do not walk themselves to the park. Dogs aren't just moving in with unwilling people.
A well run, UNCROWDED dog park does not have many problems with dogs fighting. As I have now written three different times, the Beecher Street park rarely had problems back when it was being well maintained.
And I'm glad that you think humans who use parks don't shit or bite in them. Perhaps you would like to visit the toddler park on Lamartine Street, two blocks from the dog park, and test that theory.
There is a place where pets can legally roam free and socialize
Suburbs. Exurbs.
Which suburb do you know that
Which suburb do you know that doesn't have a leash law?
In your fenced in backyard.
In your fenced in backyard.
Sure. And while we're at it...
Let's get rid of the playgrounds too. Public tennis courts or baseball fields? Feh. Build your own. Parks? Why bother when everyone can just have their own yard and plant whatever trees they want?
I think you're the one who might want to consider moving to the burbs.
busybodies
We haven't heard of any actual problems, just theoretical ones, which makes me think this unofficial dog run wasn't a problem. Therefore, the only reason to close it is that some city official is bowing to the complaint of a neighborhood busybody who doesn't like the park for whatever reason.
Well, you know as much as the rest of us do
My theory is that the people who lived right next door to the park complained about the noise and other unwanted side effects, but then again, that is just a theory, like your theory.
There are real problems with this lot, now
Since the person who organized clean-ups, posted rules, and so on, moved out of state, this park has unfortunately developed problems.
As I posted elsewhere on UHub earlier this week, professional dog walkers are now using the park, and that is a big contributing cause of dog fights, dog shit building up until the park smells, and people leaving empty water bottles and garbage there. The noise is, hands down, the biggest problem. I work a block from this park 1-2 days a week, and the noise becomes a problem when more than 5 dogs visit, which happens with increasing frequency. I have had to end phone conversations because the fighting and barking became too loud. The baby who lives upstairs from my client wakes up and cries when the dogs start fighting.
The fights are frequent. A cat was killed on the sidewalk in front of it last year. At least one dog fight I know of ended with a dog in the Angell ER.
The professional dogwalkers do not bear all of the blame. People bring their own pets and do nothing to quiet them when they bark, or control them when they were antagonistic.
I live less than a ten minute walk from the park and have for a long time, on one of the streets frequented by people walking dogs to Beecher Street. I've seen the so-to-speak dog traffic go up. The problems began a few years ago, well after the park was established. The people who have complained are mostly people who have lived on Boylston Street and Paul Gore Street long enough to remember when the park was well controlled.
To be clear, I am not one of the people who lodged a complaint. But anyone who actually knows the area understands that the park is not being taken care of. I did not and do not want the park closed. I had hoped that someone would step up and commit to organize caretaking of the park; the park was a nice benefit of the neighborhood. That did not happen.
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People already use the area
People already use the area along Oakdale Street between the skate park and the Green Street playground as an off leash area for dogs.
Yes
And a fence could be put up, and the city could make this "official."