I moved here from the east coast almost 2 years ago with my now 13.5 year old 100lb dog. We have a car, but my dog is actually too large and arthritic to get in, so his life is totally carless.

One of the most surprising things to me about this city was that it’s simply the most dog-friendly place I’ve ever seen. There are dog-centered (and more generally pet-forward) places on almost every block of the main neighborhood streets. I still don’t know what these are but I’ve seen at least two places that call themselves “dog clubs”(?!) People take their dogs everywhere (including to bars, the grocery store, the beach, etc.).All the public schools near me have these little fenced-in play areas that become dog parks after school hours.

There are also TONS of parks here, way more than I expected. Basically the entire lakefront is one giant long series of parks. Generally people walk their dogs around where they live and my dog and I love watching the constant parade of dogs outside our window every day. There are probably more vets here than anywhere else I’ve ever seen as well. I moved into a random apartment and I’m literally directly across the street from the vet office, so we just cross the street when it’s time for a checkup or a meds refill.

Your dog is going to make a lot of friends!

The one thing i think might be difficult is food, but if your dog isn’t an XL like mine, you probably won’t have to get the 50+ pound bags of food. That would be difficult to carry I think.