Pet Pointers - Best Cities for Dog Lovers

 

Where can you live your best life with your BFF (Best Furry Friend)? To mark National Dog Day on Aug. 26, LawnStarter rounded up 2023’s Best Cities for Dog Lovers. We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on 28 indicators of puppy love, such as access to dog-furrendly housing and businesses, suitability of dog walking, and affordability of canine services. See the 10 cities leading the pack (and the 10 cities in the doghouse) below, followed by key stats from our report.

Best Cities for Dog Lovers Rank City 1 Orlando, FL 2 Tampa, FL 3 Alexandria, VA 4 Austin, TX 5 Richmond, VA 6 San Diego, CA 7 (TIE) Atlanta, GA 7 (TIE) Scottsdale, AZ 9 Knoxville, TN 10 Miami, FL Worst Cities for Dog Lovers Rank City 1 Paterson, NJ 2 Detroit, MI 3 Newark, NJ 4 Bridgeport, CT 5 Laredo, TX 6 Brownsville, TX 7 West Valley City, UT 8 Springfield, MA 9 Kansas City, KS 10 Hialeah, FL

Key Insights: Top Spot: At least one hat-wearing dog, Goofy, will be happy to know his city is our Dog Lovers Capital for the 2nd straight year. Orlando, Florida, cared its way to 1st place — literally: The City Beautiful dominated our Care category, contributing the biggest boost to the city’s overall score, 49.55 points. Pawesome Parks: Pups in Knoxville, Tennessee (No. 9 overall), Boise, Idaho (No. 42), and Corona, California (No. 61), offer tons of dog-friendly green space. They outperformed the competition in dog parks per capita and average visitor rating and especially shined in access to top-rated dog parks. The Pup Well Traveled: Unaccompanied canines won’t have trouble hitching a ride in the biggest cities, where pet transportation services are most popular and accessible. Over 150 cities offer at least one such service. Los Angeles (No. 24 overall) raced to the lead with 48. Bone Appétit: Outside of the biggest cities, the South is best for chowing down with a furry pal. Eleven of the 20 cities with the highest numbers of dog-friendly restaurants are in this region. They include cities like Nashville, Tennessee (No. 45 overall), Charlotte, North Carolina (No. 53), and Louisville, Kentucky (No. 103). Doggie Howsers Needed: Residents of smaller cities in large metros must travel to the big city for better pup care. Newark, New Jersey (No. 198 overall), for example, landed in last place in Care, while New York (No. 31) ranked 50. North Las Vegas, Nevada (No. 189), finished 193rd, compared with Las Vegas (No. 12) in 2nd place.  More Ruff Trade, Please: Despite the biggest pup-loving communities, two California cities, Pasadena (No. 23 overall) and Santa Rosa (No. 16), severely lack dog-friendly businesses. Each ranked in the top 10 in Community but in the 120s in Businesses.  Underdogs: Despite finishing 6th worst overall, West Valley City, Utah, ranked 50th most affordable among all 200 cities. Meanwhile, Kansas City, Kansas (9th worst), is the only city among our bottom 10 that ranked higher than 146 in Housing, at No. 84.   Helpful Links: See Where Your City Ranks Full Study Article Expert Insights Methodology Hire a local LawnStarter pro to transform your yard into a dog-friendly landscape as a special T-R-E-A-T for your pup. More from LawnStarter:  Best Dog Park Cities Best Cities to Walk Your Dog The Crappiest Lawns in America Best Cities for Cat Lovers Most Relaxed Cities Best Cities for Cornhole Lovers Best Cities for Hiking