Centrum Dog Park

No parking. This place is a scam. It's built with taxpayer money as a PUBLIC park but it's really the private park for all the apartment and condo buildings that surround it. Now theyre charging hourly for the 5 visitor parking spots that are always taken at peak times. This is an example of poor city planning. When I visit during the middle of the day this park is very empty as all the residents have pools and parks in their own buildings. This place and Civita Park are way too nice and overdeveloped with taxpayer money but purposely out of the way, hard to access, impossible to park at so that only a small percentage of residents who live next to the park can use it. The rest of us can look at photos online. If San Diego were scrappier there would be lawsuits. It would be a better use of public money to make all the parks in San Diego nicer instead of going overboard building these elitist inaccessible pockets.

They've only repaired the park a FEW times after receiving multiple complaints and someone specific finalizing the issue by speaking with management. The hinges on the gates are still completely broken. The locks are busted fully in the small-dog section and one on the outer door in the big-dog's section. The water fountain in the large dog's area is CLOGGED. After they unclogged it several months ago, they forgot to fix the issue where when water from the top two fountains goes down the drain, IT FLOODS THE LOWER FOUNTAIN BOWL! They've only replaced one poppy bag station... IN THE SMALL DOG SECTION, where barely any owners clean up their dog's 💩 in there. It smells like urine all over the fences.. and on the play equipment. Ps... there are always poop on the sidelines of both parks. Our gift 😊 There used to be dog park drama too. Thank God those days are gone. We're all grown here. Let's not be in cliques or hate each other for childish reasons. This park is not entirely terrible, but the Kearny Mesa Dog Park is waayyyy better. I recommend you go there. Less drama depending on what time you attend, and more "focus on our dogs" time.

I went to this dog park in 2023, and my thoughts were mostly positive: - nice area next to Parksocial - had obstacle course stuff - not too busy during weekdays The parking situation was a little limited but was free. As of 2024, I changed my mind. Parking is now "Pay to Park" or resident permit only. It's $3/hr, but you have to pay a $1 service fee. The qr code is too far away (a small sign at the top of a 20 ft pole) and doesn't scan, so you have to text instead. These off leash dog parks were public parks, but now it feels like they are trying to discourage anyone besides residents to go here. Which is strange because it's the "City of San Diego Centrum Park." It doesn't say anywhere that it's private.

I was going to give one star, but I added another because the park as a whole seems like an nice area, but the designated DOG Park is terrible. It’s literally dirt and flies. It has the potential to be nice, maybe if there was grass and an extra tree or two. It was a warm day today, and as soon as I entered the big dog area it felt even hotter because there’s no grass to help disperse the heat. I was hesitant to let my dog run around in there because of this, but there’s no other place she can be off leash. We were there maybe 15 minutes until I decided to go because of how warm it felt in there. Unfortunately, my dog ended up getting little tears in her paws from the time she played. I should’ve trusted my instinct and not let her play there. I saw another couple letting their small dog run free on the grass NEXT the actual dog park, because of how terrible it is, but bigger dogs like mine usually can’t get away with things like that. The obstacles in there are kinda laughable. Disappointing for sure. Hopefully they can make some changes to make it a better place for dogs and their owners to hang out.

Nice park to bring kiddos and pets. It has a playground and dog area.