The politics of skateboarding
Seriously, what are skateboarders supposed to do in this town? If you’re a skateboarder in Portland right now, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does it stink not having a dedicated place to skate?
Oh, 11 you say? That much?
This is an issue that seems to be sticking in people’s sides – particularly the skateboarding public. Some wonder if the skate park is really a priority, others say its unfair that skateboarding is illegal in downtown Portland, leaving no real place to go.
For those folks with a scorecard from last year, remember, there were plenty of reassurances that it would not take too long for the city to build a new skate park after tearing down the old one. The spot on Marginal Way where the park was located is now a work zone.
The city acknowledged that there would be a time when Portland did not have a skate park, but now the question may be for how long? If the City Council can’t agree on where the park should go, you can expect the wait will be even longer.
The debate on where the park should go has gone back and forth for the last two years since the Marginal Way park fell right in the way of development plans.
At the beginning, there seemed to be countless possible new locations for the skate park, including Payson Park, as well as Douglass Field and now Back Cove.
But each spot seems to have come with its own set of complications – pre-existing plans, possible future development of something else, and naturally, neighbors who don’t want a bunch of skateboarding punks in the area.
I spoke to Mayor Nicholas Mavadones last week and he said he’s been receiving plenty of emails, some from people who want to see the skate park process sped up, and others who are concerned about the increasing number of skateboarders on the streets.
Mavadones said he’s unhappy with the pace of progress on a decision, but admitted that things take time in government.
Mavadones said he’d support a temporary skate park, but then the question becomes, how do you pay for that?
In the meantime, this summer we can expect to see more boards on the streets, in the parks, on school grounds, just about anywhere else that lends itself to tricks. At the same time, parks in Scarborough and places like Lewiston may see more action.
Thoughts?
UPDATE:
Speaking of skateboarding, here’s a great time killer: an online mod of the original 8-bit “Skate or Die” for the old school Nintendo!
Posted by at 11:08 AM
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I say let’s get to work. The Dougherty Field site has been identified as ideal. The stakeholders can apply for funding for a design. The city can convene the DF master plan for a design. We can get young people down there today to clean up the brush, roust the transients and even use the old tennis courts as a temporary skateboard site while they wait for completion.
We have an opportunity to address all these issues and to involve not only the neighbors and the city, but also the users of this athletic park in a collaborative effort to redesign of the whole site. The skateboard stakeholders are ready, willing and able to raise the money, to volunteer efforts to clean it up, to bring in designers and work with the neighbors.
The ideas are great. Concerns about noise may be overblown, but can be addressed. Concerns for safety can be addressed by good police interaction, and – consider a web cam. Not only can neighbors log on and look for trouble, people from all over the globe could log on and watch some of these most talented athletic events. Communications are instant these days. Traffic calming on Douglas St. could be, and should be immediately addressed. Plus, give our youth some ownership and maybe they will decide to stay here in Portland to work, teach in our schools, work for our public safety and otherwise contribute to the community and property values like all the rest of us.
Posted by
Tony DonovanJune 27, 2007 07:06 AM
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