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State tries again to come up with a dog park in southern part of Boston
By adamg on Sat, 08/04/2018 - 12:09pm
Largest proposal for land just north of Green Street.
DCR says it has identified three potential spaces for a dog park along its Southwest Corridor land in Jamaica Plain, roughly between the Green Street and Stony Brook Orange Line stops.
The largest, roughly 1.3 acres of land stretching along Oakdale Street north of the Green Street T stop, would include two "adventure" zones as well as places for dogs to just socialize and get some water - which Friends of JP Dog Parks says could mean separate areas for large and small dogs.
The agency is also looking at two smaller spots near Stony Brook station, which would have a single "adventure" zone and a socializing/water area.
The proposals, presented Thursday, are DCR's latest attempts to come up with a dog park for Boston residents in JP, West Roxbury, Hyde Park and Roslindale.
Last year, the agency rejected plans by an area association of dog owners to turn a feces-smeared drug den and decaying former play facility for handicapped kids in Stony Brook Reservation into a dog park after state Rep. Angelo Scaccia dug up a 1967 law that seemed to prohibit that use. DCR instead briefly proposed turning nearly 40% of the reservation into a dog park even though it admitted it had no money to do so.
Around the same time, DCR proposed and then rejected turning a street-hockey rink off Anson Street into a dog park after neighbors objected.
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Comments
Southern part?
Isn't Franklin Park the "geographic center"of Boston? And wouldn't this location be just west of there? Hmm.
Technically
The geographic center of Boston is by Amory Street. On this map, it is a little bit before the A in Amory.
Technically?
I'd always heard the geographic center of Boston is in Roxbury.
Which, granted, is not all that far away from Amory Street, but, still, the fact is there is no dog park south of, oh, Landmark Center in the Fenway and the original proposal for a dog park was in Stony Brook Reservation, which is well to the south of Amory Street, so people who live in the southern half of Boston (as opposed to the South End, which has two dog parks, I think, one in the Southwest Corridor of all things).
In short: I need a break from thinking about stuff like this :-).
This should not be a debatable item
Yet here we are.
I had to track this information down for some reason many years ago and I found a Boston Globe article from 1998 that gives 402 Amory Street as the geographic center of Boston. The author asked the BRA, who ran the info through a program called MapInfo. The answer was in fact so precise that the author went to the parking lot and ascertained it was underneath someone's truck.
Also, the South Boston Dog Park is to the south of the Landmark Center, but still north of Dudley Square.
Including Long Island or not
That will move the center by a lot.
dog park
It would be wonderful for that area to have a "real dog park" instead of people allowing their dogs to desecrate our loved ones graves at Forest Hills Cemetery. The cemetery is a place of peace, sorrow and the place where we go to honor and visit our loved ones who have on before us, not a place to walk dogs and let them do their business there. Ask anyone who's mother, father, son or daughter, etc.; how would they like that if dogs come and crap on their loved ones graves. It is totally disrespectful! Please hurry and make a REAL dog park. Thank you!
Amen
There are so many shitty dog owners in JP. If Fido was a nice dog you wouldn't need to shout, "He's a nice boy!" Let's quarantine the off leash menace in one place.
You’re delusional
As someone who lives directly across the street from the cemetery and owns a dog, you’re nuts. No ones desecrating your love ones graves. The cemetery has roads, people have leashes, and people are very respectful.
And the cemetery has no rules against it.
Thank you for a voice of
Thank you for a voice of reason. I was waiting for the inevitable "what about the children?!."
Pretty good proposal, but...
I think they would have more success/support if the southern entrance were moved away from green street just a bit. When my kids were toddlers we spent a lot of time in that playground, and access to watching the trains (in the area to the left of the map marked "Sunny play" and entrance) was important to us. I don't live nearby anymore, so don't have a horse in this race, but think that leaving some of that area open to "all" will prevent misuse of a dog park by humans with no dogs.
Why are there no cat parks?
That really is an excessively sized area. My cats only required 2 square feet of room to take a crap, not an entire city block. I could have even just taught them to use the same toilet I do, if I had bothered to. I suppose if it's privately held land that is privately funded that's acceptable. But the city never paid for my kitty litter, so I'd like to see city money not going towards dog parks.
Cat Park
No cat parks? Tell that to the hordes of feral cats roaming the streets of JP, shitting in our gardens. The area needs a proper dog park, you need to get out of your crate more.
I don't have kids
So why should my tax dollars go to all these playgrounds? I'm fine with them, so long as private groups of parents own and fund them. (Sarcasm)
Look, no public amenities benefit 100% of taxpayers. At the end of the day it's a in-the-grand-scheme-of-things negligible amount of money to provide an amenity that will be well used. (And for the record, not a dog owner here.)
Don't Agonize
Organize.
You have the playgrounds...
You have the playgrounds... there are plenty of other areas along the SWC that you can watch the trains come and go.
This is already a de facto
This is already a de facto dog park. Might as well make it official-- at least people will pick up after themselves.
Yeah, I guess not having a
Yeah, I guess not having a big enough backyard to walk your own dog is just one of the many things to consider when deciding whether or not to get a dog when you live in a city. Guess it’s supposed to be everyone else’s problem...
Same could be said for having
Same could be said for having kids in the city, no?
Why should people that don't have kids pay for your schools and playgrounds? Shouldn't you have a big enough yard for Timmy & Tammy to have a slide, wading pool and jungle gym? As long as it benefits you you're ok with it, right?
I am so sick of hearing this bullshit.
cemetery and dog parks
In response to "By Oh please": My family is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery. I do not know if you live on the Walk Hill side or the Morton Street side, but, I am there everyday and see the dog owners having their dogs run all over the place. They are not on leashes nor do they always pick up the dogs remains-if you know what I mean. Just this morning I had to remind a woman to please put her dog on his lease. Do not speak of what you do not know! The dogs knock down plants, urinate and do feces on the graves. First hand observation. Speak to the grounds people-they will tell you the truth. And I hope when and if ever there is a dog park made in your area, please you and your animals use it. By the way, are any of your family members buried there? I am sure they are not!
Comment period for the
Comment period for the proposal ends tomorrow (Thursday the 23rd).
The proposal is just a draft, so DCR is looking for feedback on any concerns as well as preferred sites. As many have said, Site A has the greatest potential and room to adjust.
https://www.mass.gov/forms/dcr-public-comments