MyNewPlace Blog

Recently, we have really rolled up our sleeves and began to sift through our internal search data 8 to compare what renters are searching for in different cities around the nation.

As the 3rd largest apartment rental site on the web, we can get a pretty clear statistical view of what features renters are looking for in different cities. Since searches for pet friendly apartments are particularly popular on MyNewPlace, we took a closer look at that data and noted a few interesting facts.

First, we found that nearly 1 in 4 searches on MyNewPlace are for apartments that allow either cats or dogs or both. This means that almost 25 percent of renters either own a pet or are looking for an apartment that would allow them that option. This could also mean that renters with pets indeed do have a more difficult time finding a suitable apartment and need to perform more searches than do renters without pets.

Next, we looked at how the searches broke down between cats and dogs on a national scale. Among cities that were searched more than 50,000 times in 2008's second quarter, searches for dogs outnumbered those for cats by an average of 52 percent. We are pretty sure that this is statistical proof that dogs are 50 percent more adorable than cats.

Then, we took a look at searches for cat friendly apartments versus dog friendly apartments by city and noticed a remarkable trend. The only places where the difference between the percentages of searches for dogs and cats was below the national average were all located in the Northeast and along the northern rim of the U.S.

Check out our interactive map below, it is not a screen shot, but an embedded Google map.

View Larger Map

The cities marked in blue all had higher than average ratios of cat friendly apartments searches compared to the cities in red, which all favored dog friendly apartment searches.

This is quite a distinct breakdown and one which we have only general ways of explaining. Cities in the northeast such as New York, Philadelphia and Boston are generally much more compact and have smaller apartments and less open space than expansive metros such as Denver and Phoenix. Cold weather may also discourage dog ownership, as taking a dog for a walk on a winter's night in Minneapolis may feel like a mini Iditarod.

We'd like to hear from some renters who own pets in some of these cities. Is your location specifically conducive to dog or cat ownership?

What are the things you look for in the neighborhood in which you are looking for an apartment that is specifically tailored to pet ownership?

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