We've got a busy household with two big pups and an aspiring toddler, and over the years we've tried dozens of gates to keep the pups and kiddos at bay, and we've found a number of qualities that tend to be shared among the best gates we've tried.This gate has the 4 most important ones and a fifth one that's not essential but very helpful considering this one's added height.1. It's the typical 55 inches of retractable gate which fits most doorway and stairwells without so much excess slack a kiddo or doggo will be easily to get underneath.2. It's at least 27 inches tall. We've found any gate shorter than that tempts animals to try to vault over or humans to try to step over and potentially trip and take the gate with them risking injury to them and damage to the wall. This gate's impressive 50 inch height means that will NEVER be an issue and even our large pups look at this thing and basically treat it like a door.3. It's screw-mounted. Adhesive mounted gates are doomed to fail. Always go for the screw-mounted option (even if you're renting). Filling in a couple of drill holes is better than having to reinstall the gate a second time with the screws after the gate tumbles to the floor with a bit of plaster/paint in its adhesive deathgrip.4. Easy to open with one hand. This mechanism takes a bit of practice to do one-handed but once you get the two-step combo it becomes second nature, making it very secure but also convenient for those times when you're approaching the gate with a kiddo or groceries in one-arm and no easy place to set them down to open the gate.***Bonus Feature***So, usually, for shorter 55" doorway specific gates like this one, the vertical support spines aren't as important. However, this gate being 50" tall, means that there's a bit more material and give than normal, so having those vertical supports is a REALLY nice addition to complement the added height.***Overall Value***This is a great choice for a doorway or stairwell baby gate. Solid value.