Transforming Downtowns for Pets
7 minute read. In this blog post gives a history of pet waste stations and hydration stations coming to the cities of Franklin, TN and Nashville, TN. The work was in partnership with Mars Petcare, Metro Nashville, Nashville Downtown Partnership, the City of Franklin and Downtown Franklin Association.
SHAPING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES THROUGH PET-FRIENDLY INFRASTRUCTURE
Now, more than ever before, shaping healthy communities means accommodating and welcoming people and their pets.
In 2017, we commenced partnership with Mars Petcare’s Better Cities for Pets™ program and began working to identify the intersections between pets, civic design and public health. We learned that pet ownership rates have drastically risen in the United States. We also discovered the many health, social and economic benefits of pet ownership for individuals and communities. As designers, urban planners, and citizens, it was time to sniff around and find out more.
PETS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD—Tennessee
We began by gleaning insights about how Tennessee, and specifically the cities of Nashville and Franklin, live, work, play and invest with regard to pets. Mars Petcare and Civic Design Center partnered with Nashville Downtown Partnership and Downtown Franklin Association to get a gauge on the status of pets in each downtown core.
We focused on finding out more about pets and businesses on Main Street in Franklin, and also how residential pets might be impacting Nashville. What we found was surprising!
Franklin
75% of businesses within five blocks of Main Street allowed pets;
57% of those businesses did not have amenities for pets at all and there were no pet amenities within the fifteen block study area.
Nashville
There were over 4,000 pets living in just a 1.2 mile radius – more pets than children!
Pet amenities were minimally located in a few public park areas.
Clearly, there was indeed a lot to dig for – right in our own backyard!
CITIES SEE THE VALUE OF BECOMING PET FRIENDLY
In 2016, we released a signature publication, Shaping the Healthy Community: The Nashville Plan. Through this work, we identified that pedestrian safety and walkability were critical components of having healthier people and communities. This became even more interesting when we began to consider pets. Studies conducted by Mars Petcare’s WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute suggest that pets have a profound and positive impact on human mental and physical health. We started following the paw prints and asked ourselves whether or not city leadership were interested in learning how to be more pet friendly.
Through a survey with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Mars Petcare, we learned that mayors and cities were becoming more aware of the benefits of becoming pet friendly. Surveys showed the answer was yes!
More than 60% of U.S. Mayors surveyed believe pet-friendly policies and amenities attract additional traffic to retail establishments, restaurants and cafes;
Over 80% of U.S. Mayors surveyed believe that local availability of pet-friendly amenities can increase the value of residential property.
Designing for health in cities by designing WITH PETS IN MIND
Based on a multitude of research findings and our own work showing “two-paws up!” in favor of making cities more pet friendly, we began to consider two key questions:
How could civic design components or infrastructure help support communities in ways that benefit non-pet owners, pet owners and pets alike?
What could be done that would support public safety and health, as well as the benefits of becoming pet-friendly for municipalities (including tourism) without high-level investment?
We looked to learnings from Shaping the Healthy Community and our companion tool, The Neighborhood Assessment Toolkit, and quickly realized pet-friendly environments were critical to shaping the future of our cities. Yes, we must start designing with pets, and especially dogs, in mind!
MAKING OUR BACKYARD MORE DOG FRIENDLY
While individual businesses in both cities were responding by offering amenities for pets – neither Franklin nor Nashville had core infrastructure to support burgeoning pets and pet-owning residents and visitors.
When exploring a downtown core as a person or pet, one key ingredient to health is staying hydrated. We noticed that some businesses were putting out water bowls for their four-legged customers. What about their human parents and public spaces? Hydration stations could be a much better solution as they are pet water fountains that accommodate both pets and people.
Pet waste stations that included free waste bags with adjacent trash receptacles could be small investments in infrastructure that would support the high numbers of pets living, working or visiting these cities. With data and ideas from our own backyard, we got to work!
Pets Welcome in Franklin Businesses
Thanks to the City of Franklin, Downtown Franklin Association and Williamson County Convention and Visitors Bureau, we were able to activate in Franklin quickly! We worked with Mars Petcare and the city to install 7 waste stations and implemented a “Pets Welcome” program within the downtown core that provided tools and resources to over 125 businesses.
Resources included:
Door decals providing clear communication as to if/where pets are allowed
A Pets Welcome toolkit that provides guidance on being a pet-friendly business
Sample guidelines for pets in public spaces
Tips on promoting your business as pet friendly and more!
Visualization of hydration station that includes friendly reminders to make sure people and pets stay hydrated.
At a special kickoff event, Franklin’s Mayor Moore announced a proclamation committing Franklin to becoming an evermore welcoming place for pets and pet owners. Franklin soon became a Mars Petcare, Better City for Pets Certified City – committed to considering and celebrating pets in infrastructure, public health and supporting responsible pet ownership practices – with Nashville to follow soon after.
Pet-Friendly Infrastructure in Nashville
Thanks to Nashville Office of the Mayor and Metro General Services, we found opportunities to seize upon good timing of key construction points and were able to connect to new plumbing and install 9 hydration stations in areas that often have visiting or resident working animals or pets. Nine pet waste stations were also placed in similar areas.
Metro Public Works and Nashville Downtown Partnership also understood the necessity and value of providing further infrastructure, specifically waste stations, in our downtown core. We worked to pinpoint key areas where pets were concentrated and also where visitors to our city were staying in pet-friendly hotels to strategically place stations that would provide real impacts and results. Nashville Downtown Partnership stepped in with the promise to provide execution and refill support, as well as help us track usage.
It took a team of dedicated and passionate people who truly and finally made this difference happen in downtown Nashville. Mars Petcare and Civic Design Center are proud to say that as of 2021, fourteen waste stations have been installed in the downtown core thanks to the vision, implementation, maintenance and support of Metro Nashville and Nashville Downtown Partnership.
Nashville Downtown Partnership Ambassadors, Daniel & Aaron who help support the waste bag dispenser program & pets and people in many ways every day!
PETS IN A PANDEMIC & THE PATH AHEAD
In the time since collecting our initial data, we know that the population of pets has exploded in the U.S. The pandemic has brought the desire and need for pet ownership and companionship to even higher levels than it may have otherwise. Mars Petcare published a Pets in a Pandemic report that helps cities gain insights and information that will help further shape our furry future together.
We know we have much more work to do to help make a better world for pets and people locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Shaping the Healthy Community represents communities for all people and we know our further work will always involve considering our four-legged citizens all along the way. We believe that adding pet-friendly infrastructure is critical to healthy communities.
We look forward to providing more developments and updates as we move onward with a profound sense of purpose that pets are imperative to human health, now more than ever before. To learn more about these projects and great work in cities around the U.S., visit BetterCitiesForPets.com.
About BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ The BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ program was created by Mars Petcare US, the world’s leading pet nutrition and health care business, to help communities become more pet-friendly by bringing the voice of pets and their owners to places of influence and advocating for fewer pets in shelters, more pet-friendly places, and happier, healthier lives for both people and pets. Mars Petcare works with key partners, businesses and local governments to better understand how to improve communities by: providing safe and welcoming shelters that lead to forever homes; encouraging pet-friendly, responsible homes for pets; welcoming more pets into local businesses, and giving pets plenty of park space to play. In 2019 the company launched the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ certification which recognizes and celebrates cities that are putting programs and policies into place to make life better for people and pets. For more information about the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS program and the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS certification, visit BetterCitiesForPets.com.