Welcome to Dog Parkology, a show that looks at the concept of dog parks through our relationship with dogs, with each other, and with the land. In the previous episode for this series, we explored how dog parks can be a way to connect with strangers. The individual connections we form through that experience, whether they remain more casual or grow into deeper connections, relationships can also accumulate into a healthier community ecosystem.
These benefits bring us to the idea of social capital. Social capital is an indicator of community cohesion and the resources that are available. This is Megan Mueller from our last episode, an Associate Professor of Human Animal Interaction at Tufts University. And part of this is social support, which we see with human pet interactions, that social facilitation piece. Then there's also some instrumental support too.
For example, if I am running late from work and I know that my neighbor will take my dog out for a walk, that helps build social capital and social cohesion because a big part of that is knowing that I can rely on the people in my community and the people in my community can rely on me. You could think in some ways that dog parks help facilitate this type of. Reciprocal interaction going on where people share responsibilities or share care.
These types of interactions can snowball other types of connection and cohesion as well. If people know each other's names, we start to care for one another. We build communities that are more tight knit, safer, and welcoming. The more people in a neighborhood can trust each other, the more they want to look out for each other's well being. Scholars have defined this term of social capital in different ways over the years.
In Simon Schroeder's book, Social Capital, Critical Perspectives, he said it was simply the social relationships between people that enable productive outcomes. If an individual comes into contact with his neighbor and they with other neighbors, there will be an accumulation of social capital. As we've grown more isolated, it's more essential than ever to know one another better and to feel like we're part of something bigger than our individual selves.
The kind of technological environment that we're finding ourselves in, the kind of contagious COVID, all of these things have hurt our social relations. And dog products, why I'm so interested in them, why I think they're so incredibly important, are one way that we begin to put these things back together. This is Seth Alo, the director of the Public Space Research Group for the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, and the author of the book, Why Public Space Matters.
As an anthropologist, she's trained to look at human behavior and its effects. Dogs have worked as a link. A way to create new kinds of relationships, cross class, cross race, cross gender, cross any kind of diversity you can think of, and create new kinds of solidarities around the well being of these animals. The part of the dog park that I love. that I've gotten interested in is that it brings the people together in completely new formations and ways that other kinds of environments don't do.
So here we have Dog Park, bring people together, create social solidarity, forming new alliances. One of the things that's called is weak ties. The idea that the ties that are made don't have to be so deep and yet at the same time create a sense of belonging and attachment to a place, to people, and to a community.
Their root, which is what I've been writing about, why public space is so important, is that it creates contact, the development of what I call public culture, and a dog park almost always has it. In 1973, mark Granovetter wrote the Strength of Weak Ties for the American Journal of Sociology.
Granovetter notes, those to whom we are weekly tied are more likely to move in circles different from our own, and will thus have access to information different from that which we receive, and they can have key benefits in our lives by widening our social interactions. Having a neutral ground, like a dog park, allows us to build these interactions organically. But for this kind of special community to form, there also has to be equitable access to dog parks.
Public space is a resource, and in general, it is unequally distributed. The wealthy have more trees, more parks, more everything, and more dog parks. And so I would argue, like every other kind of public space, that this is really unacceptable, that there needs to be a kind of environmental justice in order for dog parks to have the kind of positive role that they can have in society. You need to look at public space from a social justice point of view.
If we're going to do this, then we're going to have dog parks for everyone. When the question of how a city allocates their public space to be used for a dog park or not. Community members often debate budget, resources, and land use. Those who aren't dog parents don't always see why dog parks could be used by everyone. Now, in some cities, public space is at a premium. A dog park would not necessarily always end up having the highest priority. You really have to think about it.
But that doesn't take away from the fact that a dog park can really enhance your life. It's the amount of solidarity and interaction in a neighborhood. The other way to think about public space is that the need for places for people and dogs to be together can be adjudicated through time, not just through enclosure of spaces. And I want to suggest that we be creative and not get locked into one kind of dog run or dog place or whatever, because there are competing needs.
I'm just asking us to open up our minds to different kinds of strategies. Really anywhere you go with your dog, where the dog can be off leash is essentially a dog park. This could include anywhere from a forested area to a beach or another area of nature. As long as it provides that playtime experience for your dog and allows you to connect with other dogs and humans, it can have the same impact.
These less formal gathering spaces aren't meant to replace dog parks, but they can offer alternatives where we can bring our dogs off leash and connect. One of our favorite innovative dog parks is Dog Mountain, created under the vision of artist Stephen Hunack and his wife Gwen. Dog Mountain is nestled in a small town of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Lots of beautiful rolling hills. No fast food restaurants here. This is Amanda McDormand, the creative director at Dog Mountain for almost two decades.
St. Johnsbury didn't have a dog park, but we do have a leash law. And all you have to know is that dogs can't play on leashes. There was an aspect of play missing that thankfully Dog Mountain has solved. We are located on an old farm grounds. It is a hundred and 50 acre fence free dog park with ponds, fields, miles of hiking trails that loop all through the woods and down through little gullies.
And it's a really fantastic nature experience for anyone just looking to get outside and enjoy a beautiful day with their dog, meeting other dogs, new people. The massive grounds even include a unique dog chapel designed by Huneck to pay tribute to our furry friends. One unique aspect of Dog Mountain is artist Stephen Huneck created the dog chapel as a memorial to pets because they are such a special part in our life. And when we lose them, the world really doesn't offer much.
And so Stephen Huneck Stephen wanted to change that. He wanted to create a place where you could be in the present and also honor the past. Stephen and his wife Gwen really worked hand in hand. He would do the drawing, she would choose all the colors, she would do all the painting. It was a lot of fun for the two of them. And their dogs were their family, so that's where they pulled inspiration from. And sadly, Stephen and Gwen are no longer with us.
But the legacy that They have left the happiness that Dog Mountain brings day in and day out. We'll live on for years. Dog Mountain is just one of those places that encapsulates so many unique experiences all on one mountain. So many people come and visit. It is part of their bucket list to bring their current dog, to give them that experience of running through the fields, jumping in the pond, just being part of the dog mountain pack.
A lot of folks who come from cities or towns that have your quintessential dog park where you get this fenced in area and that's it. When they come to Dog Mountain, it's such an upgrade, just the feeling of freedom. While people travel from across the country to visit, the grounds have become a community center for the locals. There's magic on the mountain real early in the mornings, and a lot of our locals, before they go to work, get their zen at Dog Mountain.
And just to be in this environment, it's a real mingling place. At five o'clock, I like to call it happy tail hour because everybody gets out of work locally and they all come up to Dog Mountain and they let their dogs get their zoomies out and it's just a great place to come and just enjoy the beauty of nature. I joke, if you don't have a big backyard, come borrow ours. There's plenty of room for all to play. I tell people it's neutral territory. It's like a big playground.
So you're not running into any type of, Oh, this is my yard. The instinct to protect. It's more of an instinct to play there. There's a lot that we can learn from these dogs. They just meet each other and they start to run and then off they go and they're best friends. If only we could drop our guard so quick and just run and play like we did when we were little. In addition to providing the open grounds, they also put on events for the community.
Some of the great things that Dog Mountain also offers is, there's a free concert series that happens out in our big backyard. Last Sunday, they had some amazing musicians and it really enriched the community to be out with their neighbors dancing, just smiling. We also host weddings, family reunions. It's such a unique and spacious place to really accommodate all kinds of fun stuff. And it's a great way to just have a laugh and let your dog be a part of the party crowd.
Dog Mountain is a wonderful example of a multi dimensional place that provides connectivity for people and their dogs in a number of ways. Another important reason for having these spaces available in every community is the idea of third places. The term was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, who defined third places as public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals. The timing is loose, days are missed, some visits are brief.
There's a fluidity in the arrivals and departures and an inconsistency of membership at any given hour or day. Another key element of the ideal third space is accessibility. Third Places, in fact, are meant to be social levelers, inclusive communities open to the general public with, as Oldenburg says, no formal criteria of membership and exclusion. In Chicago, especially, there are a lot of conversations about dog park deserts.
And this is to say that a lot of different types of people have dogs in their families. This is Anjali Rao, a journalist and critic based in Chicago who focuses on the built environment. It just happens to be that the vast majority of dog parks are on Chicago's north side, which is vastly whiter and wealthier. They have tax bases that can support greater infrastructure and they're often heard in different ways in black and brown communities.
The disparities there, I think, are definitely a political decision that is made based on financial means and who, generally speaking, holds the megaphone in these cities. As a workaround, Anjali has seen makeshift DIY spaces created as one solution. Where I lived in Humboldt Park for a few years, there was a vacant lot that had a chain link fence around it. It was privately owned and there was sort of a general understanding around neighbors that people could use it as a dog park.
And in that way, the understanding between a private landowner and the neighbors worked really well as a rogue demand for a space. I don't think that cities take advantage of people's creativity and desire for togetherness enough. Sometimes when city officials see that people are taking infrastructure into their own hands, there might be more of an impetus to address it in a way that's safer, that ensures sanitation, and it might come with a budget as well.
Well, so giving people more opportunities that are low cost to taxpayers could be really influential. It's a chance to allow people to think about their presence in a city as being greater than just themselves. And they often take place in less formal environments. And that in and of itself is a type of social infrastructure. A quote from Oldenburg's 1989 book. Still rings true today. The problem of place in America manifests itself in a sorely deficient, informal public life.
The structure of shared experience beyond that offered by family, job, and passive consumerism is small and dwindling. The essential group experiences being replaced by the exaggerated self-consciousness of individuals, American lifestyles for all the material acquisition and the seeking after comforts and pleasures are plagued by boredom, loneliness. alienation, and a high price tag.
America can point to many areas where she has made progress, but in the area of informal public life, she has lost ground and continues to lose it. Oldenburg could not have predicted the rise of the internet and social media algorithms or the advent of COVID 19. But our first place, home, and our second place, work, have merged for so many of us, making the third place more important than ever. Humans are inherently social. We're pack animals, and we need this dynamic in our lives.
Our social capital is the glue that holds us all together, benefiting not only us and our dogs, but our communities at large.
Our need for third places is resilient and dog parks create a shared sense of belonging bringing us together in a crucial way Thank you for listening to this episode of dog parkology I'm, jenna blum your narrator This show was created by as it should be productions the creators of dog save the people and dog walk meditation podcasts with executive producer scott banalio And producer and editor Jack Summer.
Be sure to check out the entire season of dog parkology by following the show on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can follow us on social media at dog parkology and dog save the people. You can visit our website, dogparkology. com to learn more about the show. And to buy custom design merch, like our t shirts. If you know of any great dog parks in your area, or you've created your own dog parkology moment, you can email us at dogparkology at gmail. com.
We'd love to hear about your experience. And if you've enjoyed listening to this episode, please share it with a friend. Enjoy a trip to a dog park today, or wherever you go with your dog to appreciate nature, meet others, and make a better life together.