Edmonton off-leash dog parks could fill a need in outer city neighbourhoods, pilot shows
CBC
Edmonton's growing population could use more space for their canine companions to let loose, a new city report shows.
The City of Edmonton created 19 pop-up dog parks last year from May to October 2023, and determined that 14 of them were in medium-to-high demand from local residents.
The sites are mostly in neighbourhoods with no existing off-leash areas.
The city chose the sites based on population, number of dog licenses, requests from Edmontonians and ensuring they're a 15-minute or 1.25-kilometre walk from residences.
Michael Janz, councillor for Ward papastew, said it's a sign the city needs more off-leash spaces.
"As a city, we spend millions and millions of dollars on spray parks, on playgrounds, on park benches and beautifying public spaces," Janz told CBC news in an interview Monday.
"Yet we know in Edmonton there's as many dogs, if not more dogs than there are children. So we know that dogs are really important: that they build community, that they bring neighbours together."
Edmonton currently has more than 50 off-leash areas, the city website says.
The city's end-of-season pop-up parks evaluation shows on average, 60 per cent of 2,842 respondents to a survey, posted online and done on paper, said they'd like to have the parks in the same location.
The pop-up off-leash areas were on parkland that's not being used for other programmed recreational activities, the city report said.
Approval of the piloted sites varied.
The city recommends several sites be turned into fenced, ongoing parks in the following neighbourhoods: Summerside, Charlesworth, Bulyea Heights, Windermere, Secord, Webber Greens, Britannia Youngstown, Jamieson Place and Meadowlark Park.
Others with medium-to-high demand could be made into temporary seasonal or year-round sites, the report says.
Those include Carlton, Glastonbury, Ambleside, Glenridding Heights and South Terwillegar.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
Cut the red tape and cue the white dress.
More than 400 children under the age of one have received the measles vaccine in Manitoba since the government expanded eligibility for the shot last month due to a growing number of cases.
Wildfires continue to rage in northern Saskatchewan as the province faces its worst fire season in more than a decade.
Four in five of the wildfires so far in Saskatchewan this year have been caused by humans — the vast majority of them accidentally. But experts say part of the reason they've spread so far, so fast, is another human factor: climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels.
Just a block away from the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan there's a garden uniting green thumbs in Lloydminster.
Shelley Lindaas has long dreamed of seeing a Kermode bear cub in person.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report outlining the events leading to the death of Erixon Kabera answered some questions for his family and friends, but many remain.
Syed Hassan says he doesn't like to complain much. But when his wife told him she got a parking ticket on Thursday night, he knew he needed to speak out.
Following the public outcry over the Jian Ghomeshi case, some legal scholars and sexual assault survivor advocates lauded changes made to the Criminal Code that would prevent defence lawyers from surprising complainants at trial with past emails or text messages with the defendant.
The Waterloo Region District School Board has been talking a lot about the word "family" this month.
At Pedro's Island Eatery in North Rustico, owner Pedro Gameiro has long been not a fan of using seed oils for frying
The parking lot of the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse was full on Friday, and the building surrounded by well-dressed young people and their proud families. Despite the smoky conditions in the city, there was much to celebrate.
Toronto has moved one step closer to allowing fiveplexes and sixplexes in neighbourhoods across the city.