LESSONS LEARNED AT ITHACA’S DOG PARK
By Karen Scott / Tompkins Weekly - February 18-24
In the last days of the first days of the dog park, before the vote to extend the off-leash exemption, I was the Ithaca Times’ Inquiring Photographer down there, and I learned some interesting things.
1) People will be going to other, less well policed places to walk their dogs off-leash. If you want to avoid off-leash dogs running in a mob, it will be harder after the dog park closes, because they won’t all be at the marina.
2) People are, indeed, coming from out of town to walk dogs, and they are also doing errands, shop- ping and dropping their kids off at the rink. I know that my family is good for a couple sandwiches when we come in on Saturday mornings, and this week we got the car washed.One very irate woman told me she was planning on boycotting downtown for her Christmas shop- ping. I don’t know if she relented after the revote or not. Doesn’t the city spend thousands of dollars every year trying to bring people into town?
3) The proposed site at Cherry Street already has a bad reputation, and there is a rumor that a dog has already been injured on metal debris. There is a deer herd there with the attendant ticks, not to mention the temptation the deer themselves afford. Considerable work would need to be done on the site before it would be ready for the public.
4) The dog park is an invaluable resource for socializing puppies to people and other dogs. The dogs of Ithaca are better behaved because of the dog park.
It looks like the reason the Parks Department is so eager to get the Festival Lands is that they want to add a spur to their asphalt trail sys- tem that will run through the dog park and down to the water. Just how much disruption is justified by implementing every single bit of these trail systems? The marina evolved into the dog park because it isn’t a neighborhood park, so strangers aren’t a big intrusion. It is near the water. It is near other park facilities,but isolated because of the marina and the parking lot. Why destroy one highly functional public facility to extend another?
Why is the Parks Department so set on withholding the Inlet Island land from the city? If the Parks Department weren’t allowed to run that bit of trail due to public outcry, would they really refuse to make a different deal for the Inlet Island out of spite, and are public agen- cies allowed to make decisions out of spite? Are public agencies allowed to act against other public agencies out of spite? At what point should the public step in and tell their “public servants,” “That’s enough nonsense, play together nice!”If you don’t know how to do this, check out the dog park; you might learn a thing or two.
Karen Scott is a contributor to Tompkins Weekly.
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In the last days of the first days of the dog park, before the vote to extend the off-leash exemption, I was the Ithaca Times’ Inquiring Photographer down there, and I learned some interesting things.
1) People will be going to other, less well policed places to walk their dogs off-leash. If you want to avoid off-leash dogs running in a mob, it will be harder after the dog park closes, because they won’t all be at the marina.
2) People are, indeed, coming from out of town to walk dogs, and they are also doing errands, shop- ping and dropping their kids off at the rink. I know that my family is good for a couple sandwiches when we come in on Saturday mornings, and this week we got the car washed.One very irate woman told me she was planning on boycotting downtown for her Christmas shop- ping. I don’t know if she relented after the revote or not. Doesn’t the city spend thousands of dollars every year trying to bring people into town?
3) The proposed site at Cherry Street already has a bad reputation, and there is a rumor that a dog has already been injured on metal debris. There is a deer herd there with the attendant ticks, not to mention the temptation the deer themselves afford. Considerable work would need to be done on the site before it would be ready for the public.
4) The dog park is an invaluable resource for socializing puppies to people and other dogs. The dogs of Ithaca are better behaved because of the dog park.
It looks like the reason the Parks Department is so eager to get the Festival Lands is that they want to add a spur to their asphalt trail sys- tem that will run through the dog park and down to the water. Just how much disruption is justified by implementing every single bit of these trail systems? The marina evolved into the dog park because it isn’t a neighborhood park, so strangers aren’t a big intrusion. It is near the water. It is near other park facilities,but isolated because of the marina and the parking lot. Why destroy one highly functional public facility to extend another?
Why is the Parks Department so set on withholding the Inlet Island land from the city? If the Parks Department weren’t allowed to run that bit of trail due to public outcry, would they really refuse to make a different deal for the Inlet Island out of spite, and are public agen- cies allowed to make decisions out of spite? Are public agencies allowed to act against other public agencies out of spite? At what point should the public step in and tell their “public servants,” “That’s enough nonsense, play together nice!”If you don’t know how to do this, check out the dog park; you might learn a thing or two.
Karen Scott is a contributor to Tompkins Weekly.
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Wednesday
Letter To The Editor
Visitors Support Ithaca’s Dog Park -- Tompkins Weekly Feb. 25 - March 2, 2008
My wife and I just read the article by Karen Scott on the city dog park at the marina (Tompkins Weekly, Feb. 18). We would like to echo Ms.Scott’s findings about the present location of the dog park and the fantastic response by the individuals that we have personally spoken to who have been frequenting the area with their four- legged companions.
We are not residents of the city or county. We visit Ithaca on a weekly basis for various reasons including doctor visits. We found out about the dog park through local stores in the area and the news media. Since that time, about a year ago, we have frequented the park every time we come to Ithaca. Our five-year-old yellow lab Maggie loves the place and so do we. She starts to whine uncontrollably while crossing the bridge. She knows where we’re headed.
The economic impact of having a dog park and also the ability for people to also get together there, has got to be a very strong positive for the city, its residents and the businesses. We shop at several of the stores while we are there and we always dine there. We make it a point to. It has become part of our routine when we visit Ithaca every week.
We have a daughter and son-in- law in Laguna Beach, California, and also a daughter and son-in-law in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both cities have dog parks, with Las Vegas having several. The city officials will tell you that these parks are a huge positive influence on the community as a whole and that these facilities are a reason given, why people choose to move there. In closing we would like to say that progressive communities embrace places for people and their K-9 companions to run and socialize. The needs are there and the facility is greatly appreciated.
Thank you Ithaca!
Joe and Maria Quinlan Cortland
My wife and I just read the article by Karen Scott on the city dog park at the marina (Tompkins Weekly, Feb. 18). We would like to echo Ms.Scott’s findings about the present location of the dog park and the fantastic response by the individuals that we have personally spoken to who have been frequenting the area with their four- legged companions.
We are not residents of the city or county. We visit Ithaca on a weekly basis for various reasons including doctor visits. We found out about the dog park through local stores in the area and the news media. Since that time, about a year ago, we have frequented the park every time we come to Ithaca. Our five-year-old yellow lab Maggie loves the place and so do we. She starts to whine uncontrollably while crossing the bridge. She knows where we’re headed.
The economic impact of having a dog park and also the ability for people to also get together there, has got to be a very strong positive for the city, its residents and the businesses. We shop at several of the stores while we are there and we always dine there. We make it a point to. It has become part of our routine when we visit Ithaca every week.
We have a daughter and son-in- law in Laguna Beach, California, and also a daughter and son-in-law in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both cities have dog parks, with Las Vegas having several. The city officials will tell you that these parks are a huge positive influence on the community as a whole and that these facilities are a reason given, why people choose to move there. In closing we would like to say that progressive communities embrace places for people and their K-9 companions to run and socialize. The needs are there and the facility is greatly appreciated.
Thank you Ithaca!
Joe and Maria Quinlan Cortland
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posted by Ithaca Unleashed at
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