Justin Fox Burks
Memphis lands on a lot of rando lists.
Best bluff cities. Best ursine sports mascots. Most-affordable alternative weekly newspapers. (These are fake, people.)
And lots of those lists come from really rando sources. UrbanYurt.com. LendingClownPenguin.org. The Hotdog-Is-Not-A-Sandwich Foundation. (These are also fake, people.)
But when the Trust for Public Land (TPL) talks dog parks? Sounds legit.
That San Francisco-based group is filled with experts on city parks. It issues a report each year that ranks the largest cities, “centered around our vision that everyone deserves to live within a 10-minute walk of a quality park.”
TPL said Thursday that Memphis ranks 72nd out of the nation’s biggest 100 cities for dog parks. The group divided the city’s population of 662,038 among its four dog parks and found there were .6 dog parks for every 100,000 people. Corpus Christi, Anaheim, and Jacksonville had the same number per capita but were ranked lower then Memphis.
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“Dog parks are built for dogs, but are fantastic resources for people,” said Diane Regas, president and CEO of the TPL. “As anyone who has chatted with a neighbor while taking their four-legged friend to the dog park knows, community is created there. Having places to meet our neighbors can help us find common ground and encourages everyone to get outside.”
America’s 100 largest cities have 810 off-leash dog parks, according to TPL New York has the most dog parks (145).
But here are TPL’s top cities for dog parks:
1. Boise, Idaho, with 13 total dog parks, or 5.7 per 100,000 residents.
2. Portland, Oregon, with 35 total dog parks, or 5.4 per 100,000 residents.
3. Henderson, Nevada, with 15 total dog parks, or 5.0 per 100,000 residents.
Other cities in the top 10 include Norfolk, Virginia (4th place); San Francisco, California, and Tampa, Florida (tied for 5th place); Las Vegas; Nevada, and Madison, Wisconsin (tied for 7th place); Oakland, California (9th place); and Arlington, Virginia (10th place).
See the full list for yourself here:
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