On Silver Lake Boulevard snuggled against the southern lip of the Silver Lake Reservoir sits the Silverlake Dog Park. All of these landmarks inhabit the oh-so-fitting neighborhood of Silver Lake, Hollywood's hipper neighbor to the east.

The glacier of the movie industry rolled over Silver Lake on it's way from Echo Park to Hollywood in the earlier days of film. In recent decades the neighborhood has rebounded from the lower-property value wake through gentrification and a strong arts, music and social conscience scene. In one of the more affluent parts of the neighborhood, The Silverlake Dog Park inhabits a green space that showcases the happy mingling of a variety of dogs and a variety of people.

To be honest this “green space” is mostly all dirt. Grass frames the fences around the perimeter, sometimes in large swaths, but the dogs do go home a little dusty. The spigot in the small dog area, 30lbs and under, provided available water for drinking and even a quick rinse, but the impressively larger large dog area had a tub and multiple water outlets, including a hose, on a raised concrete disk in the middle of the yard.

Jeff, the proud owner of a French Bulldog named Debbie, and a volunteer attendee at the park, said that the locals and visitors were organizing and raising money to improve the space. Although the city of Los Angeles would be putting up most of the funds, he suggested that they were making a sort-of “down payment” on the project. cont...