Tampa ranks fifth, St. Petersburg 15th on list of cities with the most dog parks per 100,000 residents

TAMPA — Tampa's 15 dog parks have landed the city near the top of a list of American cities with the most outdoor escapes for residents and their pooches.

The nonprofit Trust for Public Land Thursday ranked Tampa fifth, in a tie with San Francisco, on its list of dog park-iest cities. The trust's 2019 survey found a total of 810 off-leash dog parks in the nation's 100 biggest cities, a 74 percent increase over the last decade.

Counting the number of off-leash dog areas per 100,000 people, the trust ranked Boise, Idaho first, followed by Portland, Ore., Henderson Nev., Norfolk, Va. and Tampa and San Francisco together at No. 5. With a population of nearly 380,000, Tampa has about four dog parks or off-leash areas per 100,000 residents.

St. Petersburg tied with Pittsburgh and Anchorage, Alaska for No. 15 on the list. Orlando was in a four-way tie for No. 48, Miami in a six-way tie for No. 52 and Jacksonville in a three-way tie for No. 72. Hialeah, with no dog parks, was in last place with three other cities, including Newark, N.J.

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times