Western Massachusetts Has One Of The WORST Cities For Dog Lovers!

Question for you, Berkshire County residents: Are dogs REALLY man's best friend? Well, many people certainly think so and who can blame them? Think about the benefits that come from owning a dog (or dogs).

Get our free mobile app

Dogs can be great ways to get exercise by walking and playing with them. Also dogs (unlike humans) do not carry grudges. They're ALWAYS happy to see us. And dogs offer us unconditional love.

Recently, LawnStarter, the online pros at providing you with the top lawn maintenance providers in your area, conducted a study to determine 2023's Best & Worst Cities for Dog Lovers. I was surprised to see that a city in Western Massachusetts is one of the worst!

To start with, LawnStarter compared the 200 largest American cities across a variety of dog-related indicators such as the percentage of dog-friendly housing and businesses, sustainability and climate for dog walking, most and least number of dog groomers, and much more.

Not only did a Western Massachusetts city rank in the top 10 worst cities for dog lovers but all 3 of the biggest Bay State cities did not perform well. Before we get to that, let's take a look at 2023's Top 10 Best Cities for Dog Lovers, according to LawnStarter:

Orlando, FL
Tampa, FL
Alexandria, VA
Austin, TX
Richmond, VA
San Diego, CA
Atlanta, GA/Scottsdale, AZ (tie)
Scottsdale, AZ/Atlanta, GA (tie)
Knoxville, TN
Miami, FL

By the way, Orlando was #1 for the second straight year! We looked at the best, now let's see which cities are the least dog-friendly. Here are 2023's Top 10 Worst Cities for Dog Lovers:

Paterson, NJ
Detroit, MI
Newark, NJ
Bridgeport, CT
Laredo, TX
Brownsville, TX
West Valley City, UT
Springfield, MA
Kansas City, KS
Hialeah, FL

For shame, Springfield, for shame. Performing slightly better (but not by much) than Springfield was Worcester which placed at #21 for worst cities and Boston landed at #65.

Take a look at the full list of rankings at LawnStarter's website here.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton