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Trend in parks benefits kids, dogs
© St. Petersburg Times, Every dog has his day, they say. In Pinellas County, that suddenly seems to be the case for dogs -- and also for their human playmates, children. In a place where children and their needs get short shrift, and where dogs aren't supposed to stick their wet noses out of their yards without a leash, there is lately a veritable blizzard of proposals to create ways for both to have fun. Plans for dog parks are popping up all over Pinellas. Dog parks are commonplace in other parts of the country, but were not considered here until recently. If it is hard for you to imagine what a park for dogs would look like, picture this: A fenced grassy area where leashes aren't required, a water fountain at the right height for dogs, and benches where the humans can sit. Oh, and a receptacle for, uh, litter. That's the apparent equivalent of heaven in a dog's world: a place where dogs can play and run with their own kind, without a leash yanking them back or a human yelling at them. People who have visited these parks in other places say the dogs have a great time and that the human owners do a good job of keeping the parks clean. Tarpon Springs and Largo have been working on plans for a dog park. Safety Harbor already has one. Indian Rocks Beach built a dog park at its nature preserve. St. Petersburg has two dog parks planned and a proposal for as many as eight more. Bowzer's quality of life is definitely improving in Pinellas. Things are getting better for kids, too. Look at the proliferation of new kinds of parks and playgrounds for children. North Pinellas' first public skateboard park opened in Dunedin in December, breaking almost a taboo against such parks. For years, young skateboarders had asked for a place to practice their sport. All they wanted, they said, was to be treated like kids who got baseball fields and soccer fields and basketball courts. But communities looked at the baggy clothing skateboarders wore and the damage to sidewalks and fountains done by the skateboards, and shied away from the idea. Today that is changing. Clearwater is planning a skate park on Drew Street across from St. Petersburg College. Largo is in the design stage of a skate park at the Bayhead athletic complex near Seminole Boulevard and Bay Drive. Last month Oldsmar finally approved a revised plan for a skate wave at Bicentennial Park after months of objections from neighbors. Oldsmar is even working on plans for a BMX bicycle track at Canal Park. The new attention to children's recreational needs may be inspired by the 2000 Census, which found that the number of children in Pinellas County has grown. Some census tracts have three times more children than they did in 1990. With that kind of growth, provisions must be made for the varying needs, including recreational needs, of the county's youngest residents. There being no doggy census, we won't venture a guess about why public officials are paying new attention to the recreational needs of our four-legged residents. They don't even grow up to vote. Whatever the reasons, this is a good trend. Pinellas is getting more crowded, so its residents need more places to play, more healthy ways to let off steam. Quality of life does not have to go down when the population goes up.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Special: Bumper to Bumper |
