Seaport Neighborhood - Infill and Discussion

[dennismulder]

lol yea after I read that I was gonna say, a majority of who have what??? That's definitely not my lived experience seeing friends, family, neighbors. That said, I do think people walking their dogs helps otherwise quiet somewhat antisocial neighbors become acquainted with others, especially the newbies with longtimers. A couple more small dog parks in my area of Dorchester would do wonders to help consolidate some of the externalities everyone's speaking of. Even if someone scoops the poop, I'm not very happy about poop residue and pee in my front lawn/garden. We put up a fence and they now just pee along the fence... But I'm a cat person, so a bit biased.

The majority of households have dogs? Not in Greater Boston: it's 26%. And I can't find any data suggesting a majority of households nationally own a dog. I don't think one can in good faith state that "a majority of people" desire dog ownership, especially in urban areas. Cities should not be bending over backwards to accommodate dog owners, who comprise a minority of households. By all means cities should plan for the presence of dogs and regulate/price them accordingly to mitigate the downsides. But cities should be prioritizing making cities more liveable for families and kids first and foremost, not dogs.

U.S. Pet Industry Reaches $158 Billion in 2025, Poised for Continued Growth in 2026

U.S. Pet Industry Reaches $158 Billion in 2025, Poised for Continued Growth in 2026

americanpetproducts.org

^according to this study, % of households with dogs increased from 51% to 53% last year.

According to census data, 37% of boston area households have a dog. According to the animal rescue league of boston, over 75% of millennial or gen Z report that they want a dog, but many don’t have one now due to financial barriers or housing restrictions. with our top notch housing crisis, it’s no surprise that our region’s lower dog ownership rate i yet another livability consequence (notwithstanding the personal benefits for the few curmudgeons in society who are anti-dog)

 

[jklo]

The main reason why apartments/condos ban dogs is the Dog Bite liability. Dogs tearing up the place is also an issue.

Having noisy kids for neighbors is not a negative economic externality that impacts society at large, and even assuming it was, dogs can be just as loud and as much of an irritation for apartment living than kids, if not moreso.

That's true. Dogs are also very noisy.