gambaru
Datamuse- I totally understand your question and asked that myself when I first started bringing my dog to Westcrest. The dog park has been a wonderful source of community for us since we moved to West Seattle. Gone are the days when neighbors hang out on the porches and get to know eachother well. The dog park has been that substitute for us. I go daily at around the same time and have gotten to know great people quite well. In fact, we have dog park friends who actually flew internationally to our wedding this past year. I cannot advocate enough for the importance of dog parks in a community, it is such an effective use of community space.
Ok, back on topic:I admit I do, now, take my dog in those trails. I know that concession will invite a hailstorm of comments but here goes: Yes, Westcrest is amazing. I am so grateful to have it there, but most of it is open area. It can get kind of crowded, which can agitate some of the more dominant dogs. It can also get REALLY hot for the dogs to run in an open field. The trails that are fenced in, are quite limited. (Just a thin line between the roads.) It is several degrees cooler outside the gates. Plus, walking the trails and hills is much better exercise for me and my dog. My dog runs harder and is more interested in teh terrain. Based on conversations with native west seattlites, that area was included in the proposal for the dog park, but there was protesting, so it wasn’t.
Now, I didn’t originally venture outside of the gate. However, I did utilize that area after this: A good friend was walking with her dogs in the back trails and witnessed a crime. She decided to risk getting an off-leash fine and report the crime to the police, in doing so, admitted to them she’d been there with her dogs off-leash. The police response? “Don’t worry about it, we’d have to give 500 off-leash fines for that area if we gave you one.” I took this as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Right or wrong, everyone knows dogs are off leash in that area, so don’t be surprised if you see it there. To be honest, the only people I really ever see out in those woods enjoying them are those with dogs. Would including it as part of the off-leash area be a better use of that green space?
Ok, flood gates opened, may the comments ensue.