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85. The Park That Went to the Dogs
When Winnie and Arnold bought their house at
end of a cul-de-sac in 1980, they thought
had died and gone to heaven. There were
four houses on the street. Between their house
their neighbor’s house was a dirt pathway. The
led to a city-owned dog park, where dog
could let their dogs run free. But there
no parking lot for dog owners’ cars. Dog
had to park on the street, and then
their dogs to the leash-free park.
In 1980
one seemed to know about the park. The
people who used it were the people who
in the neighborhood. The neighbors used to joke
they had their own private dog park.
Those
the good old days. Things have changed. The
has become like California in the Gold Rush
. Everyone knows about it. A dog may be
’s best friend, but 1,000 dogs certainly are not.
the years, the neighborhood association, consisting of about
houses nearest to the park, has begged the
council to reduce park hours. It is open
7:00 to 7:00 seven days a week. But
dog owners actually arrive at 6:00, saying that
needed to beat the rush. To save walking
, others park in neighborhood driveways. Others bring boom
and play music loudly in the park. Others
on neighborhood doors and ask to use the
. Weekends are even worse than weekdays. Whole families
the day with their dogs. People, dogs, noise,
trash are everywhere.
“We’re stuck here,” said Arnold. “
’ve been trying to sell my place for five
. But when buyers see all this dog traffic,
take off running. What a joke. This place
heaven when we first moved here. Now it’s
.”
The city council has ignored the neighborhood association’s
for help. A council member said, “We have
meet the public demand. This no-leash park is
popular. I’m sorry, but if the homeowners don’t
it, they can always move. This is a
country, you know.”
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