March 23 is National Puppy Day, and that means someone somewhere has released a survey in honor of the nation's furry friends.
The Trust for Public Land—whose mission is to put a park within a 10-minute walk of every resident—unveiled its first-ever ranking of dog parks in the nation's 100 largest cities, looking at cities with the most dog parks relative to population. So, where does Cincinnati rank? No. 34, with four dog parks per 100,000 residents. (The Trust for Public Land has The Queen City's population at 309,190, though the city itself lists 296,943 based on 2010 Census data.)
Boise, Id., lands at No. 1 on the list, with 6.7 off-leash areas per 100,000 residents. The City of Trees is followed by a tie between Portland, Ore. and Henderson, Nev., and in third, Norfolk, Va.
"This year, we decided to take a closer look at the dog parks data because they are becoming so popular," the center's director, Charlie McCabe, said in a statement.
Overall, the presence of dog parks has increased by 40 percent since 2009, the year The Trust for Public Land began collecting data on dog parks. Currently, there are 774 off-leash dog parks in the nation's 100 largest cities, an increase of 38 since 2017.
To see the full ranking, visit tpl.org/dogparks.
