Delray is pet heaven and its beloved furry residents provide a lot of the ‘glue’ that holds the community together

Not only do people love their pets, but they also love making new friends, many of which they meet because of those very pets. Downtown Delray is always full of families, couples and groups of people walking and enjoying the city and its neighborhoods. Many bring their dogs since Delray beach is one of the most pet friendly communities around, and particularly because of that, it is a community where there is a lot of love and connection.

We will add more of these special scenes as we explore what makes Delray so special. We invite you to share your images with us. We recently did a post that covered many cities, but coming back to Delray after COVID, we found even more wonderful examples of the role that pets play in the social life of Delray.

Pets: The Ultimate Social Connectors
‘Pet-friendly’ places go a long way to restoring the social life of our cities.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent

The Joy of Connecting

This image taken many years ago says it all...

Characters and their pets from around the world

Paris, Buenos Aires, Portsmith, New Hampshire

Delray has its own special characters

People just love to be downtown with their pets

Dogs Meeting Dogs

Black Dog Meets White Dog

Some pets are almost human in how they imitate their owners, and others just want to chat while their owners connect with each other.

Dogs and their owners riding together to explore the city.

Chance encounters lead to natural conversations.

Pet stores add social life to the streets.

Hangout for pets and owners

Our Brooklyn neighborhood

We live in a wonderful neighborhood in Brooklyn where many of the qualities that bring people together, like pets, are often present.

Pets are pets, even sculptures of pets carry great appeal

At the top of our list of places that endure over time are some child friendly sculptures. Many of you might know these sculptures in the Boston Public Garden.

"Make Way for Ducklings" by Nancy Schön

"Make Way for Ducklings" in Boston.

Play Sculptures
Play-friendly sculptures can be a part of making someone’s visit to a park particularly memorable, whether that’s by bringing a beloved character to life, or offering a landscape for play unlike any other.
Social Life ProjectKathy Madden

Proof that pets are important for community

Dr Lisa Wood of the University of Western Australia who led research about the importance of pets for community, says this on the topic: “We were interested in the extent to which pets facilitate social interactions and create the ‘ties that bind’ communities together [...] The notion that pets facilitate the ‘glue’ that holds society together, or ‘social capital’ goes beyond the more commonly investigated role of pets as a social icebreaker.”

Takeaways

Delray Beach as a whole provides an atmosphere where residents, visitors, and even pets can easily connect and feel that the city is their home. A significant number of people walking in the streets have pets with them and/or kids in strollers. Many are in groups. However, many of the streets have no sidewalks that allow for groups of people and furry friends to easily, comfortably, and safely get around. Some of the most used streets are being taken over by garages and driveways as properties are sold and developers max out the site by replacing people/pet infrastructure with car infrastructure.

This is another reason why we need to protect the walkability and social life of a city. Even if you don't have a pet, it's easy to stop and chat with someone who does, so a city being pet-friendly benefits far more people than just pet owners. It benefits the community as a whole. Pet friendliness is an indicator of people friendliness and enhancing one means enhancing the other.

Resources

Social Life for all/having fun - Social Life Project
The best places exude happiness and pleasure. Placemaking is meaningless without the idea of fun at its center. Why put in all this work to making public spaces better, unless the definition of “Building it Better” also means that these spaces bring joy to our lives.
Social Life Project

Previous Delray Beach Posts

How Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue Can Become the Best Main Street in Florida
Delray Beach in Florida, like many places, sits on the fence between a cherished village-like feel and a culture dominated by cars. Improving Main Street is key to its revitalization.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
A Placemaking Strategy for Creating “Village Life” in Delray Beach
Outlining a multi-part placemaking vision and community strategy for Delray Beach in Florida
Social Life ProjectFred Kent

Who we are

The Place Man: Watch the New Documentary on the Placemaking Movement
We have recently created a documentary, The Place Man, about our work in placemaking over the last 50 years, made by the wonderful Guillermo Bernal. It got us thinking about the state of the placemaking movement and what’s next.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent

Delray is our second home, and for Kathy it has been more than 68 years, so we care a lot about it and want to help it become the strongest community it can be.

Our main home is in Brooklyn where our two sons and their families live in walkable neighborhood, Cobble Hill, in an even smaller community within a community which is described a "Pocket Neighborhood" in the book. Our family thinks that it is the most livable small community within a larger neighborhood which reflects the values that Delray once embraced.

The Foundation and Future of the Placemaking Movement

Build Back Better, Together: 11 Transformative Agendas to Restore Social Life in Your Community
These transformative agendas can be a foundation for the future and a roadmap for communities to improve the “places” and after COVID, Build Back Better that can help us with ideas to shape our communities for the future.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
Next Steps for the Global Placemaking Movement
Imagine if the places where we live were shaped for, and from, our social lives, re-imagined to make it easy for us to gather, shop, have fun, eat together, and be around people different from us. we would collectively have an impact on the health of our planet.
Social Life ProjectFred Kent
The mission of the Social Life Project is to incite a renaissance of community connection in public spaces around the globe. Through our online publication, presentations, campaigns, and catalytic projects, we can create transformative impact on communities everywhere. Our work grows out of more than 50 years devoted to building the global placemaking movement. It is an initiative of the Placemaking Fund, along with PlacemakingX — a global network of leaders who together accelerate placemaking as a way to create healthy, inclusive, and beloved communities.

If you are interested in collaborating (articles, presentations, exhibits, projects, and more) or supporting the cause contact us.
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