Why are skateparks important?
I was lucky enough to live near one of the last remaining skateparks in the 1980s, and I understand the sense of identity these places can provide to kids who don’t feel like they “fit in” elsewhere. Del Mar Skate Ranch was my sanctuary in my formative years. You could find me there after school on any given day, and it’s where I met many of my lifelong friends. We were considered outcasts, but we shared a common passion. The Skate Ranch made us forget about not “fitting in” because we were right at home in the empty swimming pools that filled the skatepark. The privilege of having a place to skate was never lost on me, and I always wanted to help provide these facilities to those less fortunate. I’ve ridden a lot of skateparks in my day, and seeing the explosive growth of public skateparks in recent years has been very exciting–but alarming at the same time. I’ve watched some cities pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into skatepark projects, only to be misled by inexperienced “low-
