Open Letter about Dog Parks

Just wrote the following letter to Catellus, the development group running the show at Mueller. We've heard from other Mueller pioneers that this is an important thing to lots of folks; if you feel likewise, you should send them a letter as well.

Catellus Development Group
4550 Mueller Blvd.
Austin, TX 78723

To whom it may concern:

My name is Ian Varley. My wife Jill Meyers and I are moving in to a new Standard Pacific home in the Mueller Redevelopment next year. We just signed the contract this week, and couldn't be more excited.

We have a request for the planners at Catellus: so far, we haven't seen any provision in the plans for an off-leash dog area. We've got a dog, and while we'll have a small fenced yard, we'd really like a place where we can let him off-leash to run around and get some exercise. I know this will be even more important for the folks in row houses without yards of their own.

Additionally, we've discovered from living in West Austin for the past 2 years that the local off-leash dog park is one of the real hubs of community life in the neighborhood - the only neighbors I know well are those I've met through the dog park. We’ve heard that strong community connections are a part of the “big picture” goals for Mueller, so we thought you'd like to know that the benefits of a dog-park extend to that area as well.

Thanks for all you're doing to make Mueller a sustainable, friendly, urban neighborhood that feels like Austin.

Ian Varley & Jill Meyers