How Madison, Milwaukee Rank For Dog Parks In US

MILWAUKEE, WI – Think of this as a tail – er, tale – of two Wisconsin cities: Madison and Milwaukee. Dogs and their owners in Madison probably already know this, but the state's second largest city boasts 10 dog parks, making it one of the best cities for dogs in the United States.

Milwaukee, on the other paw, wags far behind, with a mere three dog parks.

The Trust for Public Land dug into city data to determine the best cities across the nation for dog parks, ranking them by the highest number of dog parks per 100,000 people. The organization put Madison at No. 6 on the list. The city, with some 250,000 people, has four dog parks for every 100,000 people.

Meanwhile, much bigger Milwaukee, is not quite so dog friendly. There are a mere 0.5 dog parks for every 100,000 people.

According to the Trust For Public Land, Boise, Idaho, is best for dog parks. In that city of 225,000, there are 15 dogs, roughly 6.7 parks for every 100,000 people. The next closest was Portland, Oregon, with 5.2 dog parks per 100,000 residents. Henderson, Nevada, ranked third in the country, while Norfolk, Virginia, and Las Vegas rounded out the top five.

While dogs – and their masters – in Milwaukee and other not-so dog-friendly cities may feel discouraged, they should take solace in the fact they don’t live in the cities listed below, which tied for dead last. Not one has a single dog park.

• Garland, Texas
• Lubbock, Texas
• Santa Ana, California
• Newark, New Jersey
• Hialeah, Florida

Each year, the organization’s Center for City Park Excellence gathers data on the nation’s largest city park systems.

“This year, we decided to take a closer look at the dog parks data because they are becoming so popular,” Charlie McCabe, the center’s director, said in a statement. “That led to these rankings of cities with the most dog parks relative to population.”

Dog parks, meaning off-leash dog areas, were among the fastest growing park amenities in the combined parks systems of the 100 largest cities, The Trust for Public Land said. The group, which aims to create parks and protect land to foster healthy and livable communities, released its findings in March.

There were 774 dedicated dog parks in the 100 largest cities last year. That’s 38 more than there were in 2016, and 40 percent more than there were in 2009, the group noted.

The survey found that New York had the most number of dog parks with 140 off-leash dog areas. New York ranked just 28th in the country though because that amounts to 1.6 dog parks per 100,000 residents.

The rankings are solely based on the number of dog parks for every 100,000 residents. Factors such as park quality and popularity weren’t contributing factors.

The most successful dog parks, the group noted, are built and maintained by people working together. Specifically, the group said strong collaboration is needed between the public parks agency, the community and local dog advocates who have a strong ownership stake in the park.

“People have many questions about ‘the right way’ to build a dog park and want to bring together the correct combination of people and resources,” McCabe said. “We’re providing this information to serve as a guide.”

Click here to read the full report.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report
Photo via Shutterstock