Create official dog parks and off-leash areas within Jamaica Plain's Southeast Corridor and/or Franklin Park.
JP’s Dog owners are an engaged group, ready to work with the city and other local organizations to find legal and safe areas to exercise their dogs in the neighborhood. Councilor O’Malley has already begun this process (Thank you Councilor). We are asking for other local parks and recreation officials to support these efforts.
Why is this important?
Jamaica Plain has more green space than any other Boston neighborhood, and close to 900 households with dogs, and yet there are currently no city or state-managed dog parks or off-leash dog runs in the area.
Self-managed attempts to create dog parks within dense residential areas such as Minton Stable Gardens and most recently at Beecher St. have failed, largely due to abutter complaints. This leaves dog owners with few options to exercise their dogs. By contrast, nearby Brookline currently administers the Green Dog program, which offers a number of recreation options for dog owners. The City of Boston overall lags behind the national trend for the creation of large numbers of dog parks (“Off-leash dog parks are growing faster than any other type of park in America's largest cities” according to The Trust for Public Land).
The presence of owners regularly walking their dogs helps keep communities safe, and revitalize areas that would otherwise receive little foot traffic. Creating legal dog parks is a win-win for owners and non-owners alike.
[Organizer Updates:
-Excuse locational dyslexia above - of course I meant Southwest Corridor, but that part of the petition is no longer editable.
-The petition targets listed above are provisional. The hope is to deliver the petition in person to all local influencers in early September.
- Word has it that Councilor O'Malley's office is monitoring the petition and reading your comments. Please consider including a message to share your personal perspective when you sign.
- According to local resident reports, the Angell Memorial dog park is closed indefinitely as of the last day or two, leaving us with exactly 0 dog exercise options.]
