Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

[Justbuildit]

Apparently in seaport square they ripped out the grass and installed plastic turf. That sucks.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2055984680835457038

https://twitter.com/x/status/2053592693297594817

I'm very familiar with that area and walked through there on a nearly daily basis for years. The tale (or, tail) of that park is one where dog owners yet again ruined one of the few patches of grass in the neighborhood. There were plentiful NO DOGS signs on all sides, there's a new dog park 20 feet away and a bigger one 1 block away (that was also necessitated by dog owners tearing up another grass park), but literally every time I walked by there would be people with dogs off leash, digging up the lawn and chasing rabbits through the landscaping.

Plastic turf sucks, but several times a year the sod had to be replaced because it kept getting ruined by dog owners who don't follow the rules. Dogs are cool, pets are great, but the people who allow their animals to shit all over the place and tear up the parks are the reason this particular area got worse, and no one has any interest in doing anything about it (rant over).

 

[BACsop]

I'm very familiar with that area and walked through there on a nearly daily basis for years. The tale (or, tail) of that park is one where dog owners yet again ruined one of the few patches of grass in the neighborhood. There were plentiful NO DOGS signs on all sides, there's a new dog park 20 feet away and a bigger one 1 block away (that was also necessitated by dog owners tearing up another grass park), but literally every time I walked by there would be people with dogs off leash, digging up the lawn and chasing rabbits through the landscaping.

Plastic turf sucks, but several times a year the sod had to be replaced because it kept getting ruined by dog owners who don't follow the rules. Dogs are cool, pets are great, but the people who allow their animals to shit all over the place and tear up the parks are the reason this particular area got worse, and no one has any interest in doing anything about it (rant over).

Widespread dog ownership imposes huge negative externalities in dense urban areas, and it's frankly a little baffling to me that there seems to be very little effort politically or otherwise in Boston to address that. It should be very expensive to register and own a dog in a city. With the exception of some smaller breeds, dogs are really not good city pets and cities are not good environments for them. Dog waste in parks and on sidewalks is a quality of life hazard, off-leash dogs are a safety hazard, and the fact that so many people just bring their dogs into retail / dining establishments nowadays is a public health hazard (even for folks who aren't allergic).

 

[jklo]

Widespread dog ownership imposes huge negative externalities in dense urban areas, and it's frankly a little baffling to me that there seems to be very little effort politically or otherwise in Boston to address that. It should be very expensive to register and own a dog in a city. With the exception of some smaller breeds, dogs are really not good city pets and cities are not good environments for them. Dog waste in parks and on sidewalks is a quality of life hazard, off-leash dogs are a safety hazard, and the fact that so many people just bring their dogs into retail / dining establishments nowadays is a public health hazard (even for folks who aren't allergic).

You'd be surprised how popular dogs are. I think there's more dogs than kids now.

 

[Charlie_mta]

Widespread dog ownership imposes huge negative externalities in dense urban areas, and it's frankly a little baffling to me that there seems to be very little effort politically or otherwise in Boston to address that. It should be very expensive to register and own a dog in a city. With the exception of some smaller breeds, dogs are really not good city pets and cities are not good environments for them. Dog waste in parks and on sidewalks is a quality of life hazard, off-leash dogs are a safety hazard, and the fact that so many people just bring their dogs into retail / dining establishments nowadays is a public health hazard (even for folks who aren't allergic).

I don't currently have a dog, but I know a few older guys who have a comfort dog, serving as a psychological aid. One guy has PSTD from serving in the Vietnam war and needs a dog in that regard. That is an extreme example, but if license fees are raised then an exemption for these types of cases should be made, with a note from a doctor required.

 

[BACsop]

You'd be surprised how popular dogs are. I think there's more dogs than kids now.

Yes, it's an unfortunate trend. We need more kids in cities and fewer dogs. Lots of things that are popular have negative externalities (cars! motorcycles! guns!) that should be regulated accordingly! I'm not saying we need to ban dogs from the city, but they impose a cost on society at large, and right now that cost is imposed evenly across everyone, not just dog owners.

 

[BACsop]

I don't currently have a dog, but I know a few older guys who have a comfort dog, serving as a psychological aid. One guy has PSTD from serving in the Vietnam war and needs a dog in that regard. That is an extreme example, but if license fees are raised then an exemption for these types of cases should be made, with a note from a doctor required.

Yes of course, licensed service and therapy dogs should be exempt. They really aren't contributing to the problems I cite anyway. 95% of dogs you see around Boston don't fall into that category, though!

 

[Arenacale]

Yes, it's an unfortunate trend. We need more kids in cities and fewer dogs. Lots of things that are popular have negative externalities (cars! motorcycles! guns!) that should be regulated accordingly! I'm not saying we need to ban dogs from the city, but they impose a cost on society at large, and right now that cost is imposed evenly across everyone, not just dog owners.

I very much do not like dogs (having a few stints as a mailman will do that to you), but it's the owners themselves that are the problem. We all know responsible dog owners who respect both the rules and other people, and clean up after their pets, but it feels like so many of them are the exact opposite and give Fido free reign. I don't think we need to discourage people from having dogs per-se, we need to encourage people to be considerate!

(Just to rant further: I know dogs tend to be a substitute for children because they are far less work, care, and money...but good grief do a lot of people with "fur babies" take that to the nth degree and think they have no reason to control their dog. I know he's your little sweetheart and he'd never bite...but I don't know that and he doesn't know me! Leash him, please. Constantly boggles my mind that people care more about their dog than other humans.)

 

[dennismulder]

I very much do not like dogs (having a few stints as a mailman will do that to you), but it's the owners themselves that are the problem. We all know responsible dog owners who respect both the rules and other people, and clean up after their pets, but it feels like so many of them are the exact opposite and give Fido free reign. I don't think we need to discourage people from having dogs per-se, we need to encourage people to be considerate!

(Just to rant further: I know dogs tend to be a substitute for children because they are far less work, care, and money...but good grief do a lot of people with "fur babies" take that to the nth degree and think they have no reason to control their dog. I know he's your little sweetheart and he'd never bite...but I don't know that and he doesn't know me! Leash him, please. Constantly boggles my mind that people care more about their dog than other humans.)

The problem is people, not dogs. Some people litter, or behave in other selfish ways in shared environments, and some of those people also have a dog. Sure, there are some breeds that don’t make sense in urban environments and some people adopt them anyway. But framing the problem as “dog owners” or “dogs” is completely missing the plot. Lots of the worst kind of people chuck their McDonalds bag out the car window without a second thought, but nobody (outside the urban planning/street safety context) says “drivers ruin everything, throwing their litter everywhere”. They isolate it to “litterers”. And litterers are the people who don’t pick up their dog crap. Kick the litterers out of the city and you’ll have no problem with “dogs”.