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> The Truth About “Save Astro Park”

If you’ve stopped by our website because you met us at our table at the park: Welcome! We’re an all volunteer group dedicated to finally getting the Lakeview Dog Play Area built. It’s been in the works for over a decade now and it’s been through dozens of public hearings. It has been approved twice now (in 2006 and again in 2010) by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.

It was included in the Lake Merritt Master Plan, and has been featured on television and radio news, and covered in every major local newspaper. Chip Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an editorial in favor of this park. ODOG (the Oakland Dog Owners Group, who started this process in 1998) has talked about the dog park in its newsletters, sent emails and given presentations to local neighborhood groups. We even went door-to-door delivering flyers.

Why hasn’t it been built yet? Good question. After all these years of publicity, a small but vocal group led by an uptown bar owner stepped up just this year to oppose the project. First they said it was too small and too close to the childrens’ play area. Then, they proposed a different location that was smaller and adjacent to a landmark children’s amusement park and the lake’s wildlife sanctuary. They claim on their website that dogs will scale the fence and attack children. (“The physical and psychological impact of being menaced or attacked by a dog exceed the impact of being hit by a soccer ball” — quote from their website in section about the height of the fence) They also claim on their website businesses will go bankrupt (“restaurants struggle, sales taxes reduce, and perhaps they go out of business” —  from their website).  They claim property values will decrease. As the executive director of Children’s Fairyland recently wrote on the topic, “can we not just tone all this down a little?”

Oakland’s Hardy Dog Park (scroll down in that link for the image) is even closer to the kids’ play area and hasn’t had any incidents in 20 years. We propose (and there’s plenty of evidence to support it) that amenities like dog parks are good for the community, good for business, and increase property values.

There’s 155 acres of parkland surrounding the lake – and none of it is available for walking your dog – even on leash. You can be ticketed if one paw steps on a blade of grass. If you live by the lake and want to socialize with your dog, you’ve got to drive somewhere else like Alameda. Almost every Oaklander we interviewed that drove out to Alameda’s Lower Washington dog park, also stopped and spent money there. Money they would otherwise have been spent closer to home. Trader Joe’s was the most oft-cited example. Local business supports us.

Today, this lawn at Macarthur and Lakeshore next to the roaring 580 freeway sits empty more often than not. We want to see this diamond in the rough really become the gem that the opposition claims it is. We want a gathering place for people and their dogs. We want people out of their cars and into their neighborhood parks. We want to build community.

A dog park here would be used daily by residents in the Cleveland Heights and Grand Lake neighborhoods. Apartment dwellers would have a place to exercise their dogs. Those without transportation could walk to their neighborhood dog park. This location provides easy access for those with mobility issues and the elderly. Baby boomers are aging, and people over 50 make up over a third of residents by the lake. A dog park in this area would be a vital resource for older people to get out and socialize with their dogs.

Again, thank you for stopping by. We’re glad you did. There’s a lot more information available here, so poke around. If you want to join our cause: Like us on Facebook and consider writing a letter to Oakland officials about your support for this park; or subscribe to this blog with the “Sign Me Up” button up top. If you have any questions, feel free to comment here, or send us an email.

> We debunk some of the misconceptions and fear that “Save Astro Park” has been spreading. Read the Truth About “Save Astro Park”