Should a dog park be constructed in Martinsville? Martinsville is a rapidly growing town, and statistics show that there are 7,000 licensed dogs in the town. Families who own dogs complain that there are no resources in the town for families with pets, and that since the recent creation of new apartments, condos, townhouses, and retail spaces that land space is scarce and there is little to no land of their own for outdoor recreation. Developers want to purchase the land for $850, 000 to build 40 new luxury townhouses. After considering both sides of the issue, I strongly believe that a dog park should be constructed.
The town of Martinsville has already added many new multi-family housing and these dwelling have very limited outdoor space. A national pet store chain is willing to give a grant to the town to partially fund the park and with the town’s budget surplus the cost of construction of the park will be covered, but a developer wishes to purchase the land to add more townhouses. The opprtunity cost will benefit the town in keeping them from using any of their resources, but the trade-off in this would be adding too many families yet again with limited space of their own, and some of these new families will have pets. Then, even more families will be complaining about space scarcity, therefore I disagree in building 40 new luxury townhouses on this particular land. All of the public spaces are not completely gone and developers can research other options.
Families with pets have no outdoor space for their pets to play or exercise. There is only one local park in the area where no pets are allowed. A dog park can be a great addition to almost any community. First, it provides dogs with a chance to excercise and socialize with other dogs. Dogs like to be free, and they like to run and play instead of being chained down. Secondly, it provides dog owners with a chance to do things with their pets that they can’t do because of limited space. Lastly, having a dog park will prove that the town is family friendly, attracting more families to the town, and for all of the reasons, a dog park should be constructed in the town of Martinsville.