Justice

Are Dog Parks Exclusionary?

In Chicago and other cities, the demand for pet-friendly public space has boomed. But many communities see off-leash parks as heralds of gentrification.
Ruff draft: A rendering of a future dog park in Chicago's Lincoln Yards development.Sterling Bay/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

This is what a park for very good doggos looks like.

When it’s completed over the next decade or so, the dog park nestled inside Lincoln Yards, a much-discussed $6 billion mega-development now taking shape on Chicago’s waterfront, could be the toniest pet playground in the nation. With its splash pool and pug-mug video installation—an homage to Millennium Park’s famous Crown Fountain—the only thing SOM’s design for Chicago puppers is missing is an oversized mirrored bone.