NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk sure does love its pups!
The city was ranked fourth in the nation in a recent dog park survey that ranked cities across the nation.
According to a list by The Trust of Public Land, Norfolk is fourth behind Boise, Idaho, Portland, Oregon, and Henderson, Nevada.
The survey list Norfolk with a total of 12 dog parks, which equals out to 4.8 per 100,000 residents.
“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,” said the Center for City Park Excellence’s Charlie McCabe. “We’re providing this information to serve as a guide.”
The list ranks the top 100 U.S. cities with dog parks that are categorized as off-leash parks.
Chesapeake also made the list as well. They were ranked 19, tied with Bakersfield and Long Beach, California.
In total, Chesapeake had 5 dog parks, with 2.1 per 100,000 residents.
“The Trust for Public Land is encouraging cities to put a park within a 10-minute walk of every resident,” said Adrian Benepe, Senior Vice President and Director of City Park Development for The Trust for Public Land. “As cities work toward that goal, off-leash dog areas have become highly popular places for dogs to exercise and dog-owners to socialize outdoors.”
The survey based a dog park off of being “off-leash”, which pushed a few bigger cities across the country down the list.
The survey found that New York City had the most dog parks, but when it came to off-leash parks, it fell behind other areas across the nation.
