Brooks’ hometown is known as the “Horse Capital of the World” and is heralded on wikipedia (without citation) as home to the largest peanut butter factory in the world. But neither of these things matter much to Brooks. His life revolves around the city’s public skate park, located right across the street from where he lives now. And that he lives there is no coincidence. “I wanted to be freer. Now I can do whatever I want. Skate whenever I want. Make as much noise in my apartment as I want,” he said.
Skate parks have been around since the ‘70s, but only over the past fifteen years have they gained legitimacy as needed public spaces. A number of things caused the change. The private skate parks built in the ‘70s closed down, as liability for injuries at the park became too great and land values increased to make selling out more appealing. Despite the closing of private skate parks, the popularity of skateboarding has swelled. Instead of going to designated parks, skaters turned to any available rails, ramps, empty pools, and ledges—but not without controversy. Residents complained about destruction to public and private property. Providing skaters with a designated place to skate became increasingly appealing to city governments. Meanwhile, states across the country began passing laws defining skating as a “Hazardous Recreational Activity,” thus minimizing municipal liability for injuries incurred at the park.
Skate parks have become so popular as to become requisite for any 21st century city. Adjacent to a suburban strip mall or under a behemoth urban bridge, the skate park provides modern teens with not only a place to skate, but also a sense of community. Recognizing a need to organize a group of skaters who largely prefer autonomy to involvement in city government, websites and nonprofit organizations have formed to give skaters a voice in city politics and to advocate for smart skate park development practices.
Skaters for Public Skateparks (SPS), http://www.skatersforpublicskateparks.org, is one such organization. “If your city doesn’t have a skatepark, then your city is a skatepark,” their homepage reads. The site is well crafted, and a visual highlights the five steps in the skatepark process: “1. Vision, 2. Advocacy, 3. Fundraising, 4. Design, and 5. Maintenance.” Groups such as SPS provide skaters with a forum for issues within the community and unified voice when dealing with city officials.
Straightfromthehip.net tailors more to city officials than SAS does and includes a number of comprehensive case studies on parks across the country.
Brooks has a love-hate relationship with his hometown. The city’s skate park provides most of the love. “If I didn’t have a hobby, I’d be sitting around think I hate life,” he said. Conservative estimate put the number of skaters in the country at 11 million. If a skate park in every community makes them (and even skating opponents) happy, build them.
I think Brooks is SUPER SEXY