hey westside, you don't have to travel to the east side for restaurants and cloths, isn't there a Ben Franklin and a Pines Tavern over there for you?

booch- im not ripping on dog lovers at all! i am a fellow one but had to put my shih tszu down a few years ago and unfortunantly i live with the rents still (im under the age of 22) but i just merely wanted to state that for basic facilities, us west and south siders have to drive far to, but at least the south side has a park to go to. Palmer is beautiful. I also think that people who drive through Palmer should be aware that there is a dog park and drive a little slower and cautious so these amazing animals do not get injured.

SFCM:
the creek on a 100 degree is heaven for my dogs. like the kids at rockport, i can't get the dogs out of the creek.

westside,
although most of the palmer dog park folks have never made the argument of "it's too far to travel to paw print," city officials must think it is so.
they are seriously considering building a new dog park somewhere on the north side of town. i guess they feel northsiders have too far to travel to paw print or the PETA.

frankly, for me, it's not the drive, it's the amenities at palmer.
not only do the dogs get a great walk, my mind gets to feel like I am "out in the woods." in my line of work, i need that.
perhaps you should simply take a walk at the PETA and discover why we are so passionate about this park.

westside--thanks for helping make the point that nobody wants to drive all the way across town to indulge in playtime, whether it be with our dogs at a park, or paying for better food than what is offered closer to home. We aren't complaining. We're stating facts. It is time and fuel consuming to drive across Janesville. This is the reason I prefer to live in or near the center of town--within walking distance of the dog park (major consideration for me when adopting a dog). Heck, if the bus ran to Paw Print and they allowed non-service dogs on board buses, I'd take that!

booch--I wouldn't take my dog to the park on a 100 degree summer day, but I appreciate your point. Paw Print is brutal during the "dog days of summer"--see you at Palmer!

There is a benefit concert being held this Saturday at the Rock County 4-H grounds to raise money for the construction of a skate park in Palmer Park. This concert is the first of two that are scheduled. The day long concert will consist of several popular local bands, food vendors and an actual skate park for attendees to practice their moves. The cost of admission is only $5.00 and parking is FREE!

you know sorry to be a drag but to all the people complaining about driving to the south side for a dog park, please think about everyone on the west and south sides of town.. we HAVE to drive to the eastside for clothing, nicer restauraunts and etc. that consumes MOST of our gas!

LIFE IS SHORT:
you should've attended the meeting last night. you could've told them in person.

ROCKSTARS:
not in the pet exercise training area nor along the designated area along the rock river. we did approach the city council several times and they have reciprocated. we decided to act rather than complain. We clearly stated we would be happy to raise funds for additions. funny how government works -- we pay taxes and things like parks get fixed up. go figure.

NVGRF
yes, we are well aware of paw print park. by the way, it is a fraction of the size of palmer. nicer i suppose is a matter of opinion. if you take your dog to both, can i ask you that question on a 100 degree day in august?

nice job to all who attended.

jaydog. Nice well thought out post. I agree. I think its time to start lobbying the city council to make this change.
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/citysite/...

Start calling

wahoo_35 I thought the whole world was a skate park. At least thats what ive seen.

wahoo-are you a half-empty kind of person? How can we support the skatepark? Are there fundraisers scheduled? Let us know.

NV--I agree that Paw Print Park is nice. In fact, I own a membership for my dog. However, it is more of a prairie than Palmer, with zero shade in the summer. For people who live in central or east side Jvl, the drive there and back consumes a lot of time and gas.
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Thank you jaydog for your input. I was interested in hearing from an attendee of this meeting because I was listening to Stan Milam this morning and his take on it was more like yours, and not so much like Beth Wheelock's. Interesting reporting, I guess...Thanks for the first hand info from a citizen.

I say dump the dog park and build the skate park.

I have to disagree with this article’s assessment that parking was the top concern at the listening session last night. The top concern of this listening session was the future of the pet exercise area—all in attendance were there to make sure the PETA area is protected from competing interests. As the conversation touched upon what improvements the city could make to accommodate all of the various activities that take place in the Palmer Park area, parking emerged as a minor obstacle that will need to be dealt with, especially when the skating park is built. Dog owners are technically supposed to park along Palmer Drive but because traffic flies through Palmer Drive at excessive speeds, it is not a safe place to park. Consequently, most dog owners use the parking lot in Palmer Park instead. Since dogs must be walked from the parking lot to the pet exercise area, the owner is technically in violation of city ordinances that prohibit pets in the parks after May 15. Fixing that technicality does not need to involve spending 6-digits of capital—it requires a simple amendment of the ordinance to allow an exception at this location.
Last night’s meeting was a text book example of how a community should operate: the city called the listening session to get a feel for how the most passionate users of that area see the area’s future. Hopefully the many comments will influence future development in that area.

We have children as well as a dog, and we love making it a family outing to the Palmer exercise area. We keep our dog on a leash when we're near any roads, but she is off leash when in the deeper trails. I agree that most dogs are off leash here as a way to explore and get exercise. I am not able to run my dog and this is a great way for her to get more exercise as well as the rest of my family being able to enjoy nature and taking care of our dog. Our dog enjoys meeting new "friends" there. They are free to explore the land and each other. I've never met a dog on the trails that didn't follow an owners command when off leash. If your dog doesn't listen to you they should be leashed for their own safety and the safety of others, but that is just common sense. If they put up more fences that's great, if not we'll continue the way we always have. As long as we have the exercise area at Palmer, I will not complain. If that is taken away from us, I'm not sure what we'll do. Driving all the way across town to the south side is not always an option for us, so our dog would pay the price.

I think there should be a law in which parents *must* have leashes on their kids!! My dogs are *much* more behaved than most kids and quite frankly dog owners have rights too!!! It too bad we can't claim them on our taxes!

The South Oakhill site is far larger and nicer.

rockstars--the Pet Exercise Training Area at Palmer Park is designed to give Janesville dog owners a place where they can take their dogs and exercise them off leash and to encourage socialization. Not everybody is able to run their dogs on leash (physical disability, age, etc). People use this area at their own risk. As for going to the coucil with these requests, the city acutally invited the residents to this neighborhood meeting to hear what their requests/concerns were. I commend the city for soliciting resident input.

There is a nice dog running/walking area on South Oakhill.

Aren't we supposed to use leashes at all times in Janesville, anyway??? Why should you being able to run with your dog be a nuisance to me? Keep your dog on a leash otherwise there may be a cop at the end of your run. I have dogs, too, but I wouldn't let them out without leashes in an area with easy access to roads and to other people. Anyone that went to the council with this request needs to have their priorities re-examined.

Let's get a safe crossing at the Ice age trail and Milwaukee street for our kids safety before we spend money to keep our dogs safe!

I don't see what the problem is. I keep my dog on her leash from when I let her out of the truck until we get a ways into the trails (away from the road) and then when we're returning to the road, I put her on the leash when we get close again until she's in the truck. If you're nervous about that one trail that runs parallel with Palmer Drive, just don't use that one - there are plenty of other trails. Pretty simple!