Sprocket Dog Park

People were trying to get a neighborhood association going.

When I moved into this neighborhood [East Lincoln Crossroads] at the end of 2016, I got a little note on my door that there was going to be a neighborhood meeting in the Goshen City Annex building.

One of the sign-ups there was to go to a neighborhood works convention in Los Angeles. A couple of weeks later, I got a call that I was the only person who had signed up, so I was like ‘Sweet!’

In the end, some people from Lacasa went, too, along with a couple of others.

In one of the convention workshops, we were supposed to come up with an idea to make our neighborhood better. That’s kind of where the neighborhood dog park idea came from. We fleshed out a lot of different things in those sessions, like how this would help your community.

We wanted more green space in Goshen. And I thought of a dog park as a point of connection– I’ve met other dog owners using the park now — but I also wanted more people in our neighborhood walking around. Not that our area has a lot of crime, but things happen, and more people out with their dogs, more visibility, providing a place that’s well-lit — it’s just going to make our neighborhood safer.

And if you’re looking to buy a house in Goshen, why not buy a house in a neighborhood with a dog park?

He’s no longer in town, but I was inspired by Joe Mehl. He was working on an idea for a dog park, too. When it looked like ours was going to happen sooner, he gave us access to his Facebook page with, like, 600 fans, and it was a huge help.

It was a small challenge to hand off [development of the dog park] to the city.

Once we gave it up — which was awesome because it took a lot off of our backs — it did put the timeline in the parks department’s hands. We weren’t really sure anymore when it was going to happen. But in the end, it was just a blessing to have them do all of the work.

We wanted “fire hydrants” in the park, and to have a little tunnel there, so the parks department took those plans and implemented them. It was just awesome. Now, in the middle of winter, they are going to plow that area so people can go and walk!

I have a dog. His name is Joe, and we go on walks all the time. A lot of the time we go on the Pumpkin Vine [Trail], a walk a couple of miles long. But now we’ve been stopping by the dog park on the way home so he can get water. He’s a thirsty little guy! I love to give him water there — he has his own little puppy bowl — and this is one of the things I really wanted in the dog park.

He goes in and just runs around and sniffs everything, so I think it’s the other dogs that are his favorite feature. But Joe’s acclimating to other dogs, and just to be in there since it has opened… it’s like, ‘It’s here!’ It’s part of my routine now to be there with him.

— Timon Nimtz, collaborating contributor to the creation of Sprocket Dog Park, friend and owner of Joe