Pet Pointers - 2023's Best Dog Park Cities

 

Hi Motherhood Moment team, Where in the U.S. can you find the most pooch-friendly green spaces? LawnStarter sniffed out 2023’s Best Dog Park Cities to mark July as National Lost Pet Prevention Month (in case Rover runs away from the pack — or the park). We compared 98 of the biggest U.S. cities based on Access, Quality, and Climate. More specifically, we factored in the number of dog parks per 100,000 two-legged residents, visitor ratings, and historical weather data, among eight total metrics. See the 10 dog park cities that are up to snuff — and the 10 on a tight leash — below, followed by key stats from our report.

Best Dog Park Cities Rank City 1 Boise, ID 2 San Francisco, CA 3 Henderson, NV 4 Tampa, FL 5 Arlington, VA 6 New York, NY 7 Sacramento, CA 8 Las Vegas, NV 9 Portland, OR 10 Norfolk, VA Worst Dog Park Cities Rank City 1 Garland, TX 2 Cleveland, OH 3 New Orleans, LA 4 Laredo, TX 5 Columbus, OH 6 Kansas City, MO 7 Arlington, TX 8 Santa Clarita, CA 9 Newark, NJ 10 Irving, TX

Key Insights: Barking Up the Right Tree: Aptly nicknamed the City of Trees, Boise, Idaho, asserted its dominance as our top dog park city with the best access to pooch-friendly green space. Boise earned over 10 points more than San Francisco, our 2022 gold medalist. Lost Angeles: The City of Angels (29th worst overall) has the 3rd-fewest dog parks per 100,000 two-legged residents. This outcome is a shocker, considering an estimated over 550,000 LA households own at least one dog — and single LA residents are known to be pup magnets. Pupproved Parks: Toledo, Ohio (No. 42), boasts the highest average consumer rating, 4.75 out of 5 dog bones, across all of its dog parks. Corpus Christi, Texas (No. 52), and Buffalo, New York (No. 63), tied for the 2nd-highest rating, 4.67. The Biggest — and Coldest — Little City in the World: Not all desert cities are sweltering. Reno, Nevada (No. 24 overall), registered the 3rd-highest historical average number of very cold days — even more than the Twin Cities, which are notorious for below-zero winter temperatures. No Vitamin D for Dog Owners: Pittsburgh (No. 53 overall) receives the least average amount of monthly sunshine, 42%. That’s less than in Anchorage, Alaska (No. 74), which gets more sunlight than anywhere else in the U.S. — between mid-March and late September. It’s dark the rest of the time, placing Anchorage 2nd among the cities with the least sun. Quantity Over Quality: Laredo, Texas, placed 4th-worst overall, no thanks to its unfetching dog parks (2nd-worst in Quality) despite the 18th-best Access rank.   Helpful Links: See Where Your City Ranks Full Study Article Expert Insights Methodology No dog park in your city? Hire a local LawnStarter pro to help transform your backyard into a green oasis for your furry friend.