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There will be no shortage of reasons why people will think a new skatepark is a bad idea for the community. Some of the concerns will be negotiable and matters of small consequence that the advocate can address or negotiate with those voicing the opposition. Other negative voices will seek to prevent a skatepark of any size or design to be created anywhere in the area. Following are some of the most common concerns that surface in meetings and some effective responses.
Each individual and group in your community has a reason to support the new skatepark. It’s your job to find it and express it.
The issue:
“Skateboarding promotes the wrong kind of lifestyle to our youth.”
It is very unlikely that you’ll hear this idea as frankly as it’s written here, but you will frequently hear it in more polite or subtle terms. Skateboarding doesn’t share baseball’s “All American” image, and many people will instinctively resist a skatepark because they either don’t understand skateboarding culture or have negative preconceptions about what skateboarders are all about.
The answer:
Skateboarding is a popular recreational choice. Over 13-million American kids are skateboarders, and it continues to get more popular every year. Skateboarding is as diverse as any other athletic hobby. Parents do it, kids do it (where they have a skatepark, parents and their kids skate together), and kids of all ethnic and economic backgrounds skate. It would be inaccurate to categorize millions of people as being one certain way
The issue:
“Skateboarding presents too much liability.”
It’s important to understand the distinction between personal risk and legal risk. Nobody wants to see anyone get hurt—ever. However, many cities perceive skateparks as an “encouragement” to risky behavior. Though this is certainly one way of looking at it, consider the alternative: Without a skatepark you are asking skaters to do the same activity in the streets where they share space with automobiles and pedestrians.
The answer:
Like many other athletic activities, skateboarding has its risks. However, the safest place to engage in this popular activity is at a facility specifically designed for it, and away from traffic and private property. When skateboarding injuries occur, it’s usually by someone who has been skating less than a week, and about half of those accidents are attributed to “uneven surfaces.” Compared to other popular sports like football and basketball, skateboarding has far fewer annual injuries per thousand participants (Basketball – 224; Baseball – 116; Soccer – 62; Skateboarding – 20, according to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, a division of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission).
The issue:
"We weren’t properly informed about the skatepark.”
A very common argument against skateparks by neighboring residents is that the Parks Department did not follow due process. These residents feel railroaded into having a skatepark near their homes. Although it’s open record that your group has been at every meeting and participated in the planning along the way, most people simply aren’t paying attention to your plans until it relates directly to their day-to-day lives. This argument may be very emotional and heated, which can be devastating to a skatepark effort.
The answer:
Present your criteria for selecting the sites and work privately with your Parks Department and other influential local agencies to back you up. You should not be the only ones running interference. Park improvements happen through a common and thoroughly documented process. The process commonly involves a series of meetings or hearings that are publicized in the local newspaper and on city Web sites and bulletins. Be sure it’s followed, then work with your supporters to develop a unified voice when dealing with opponents.
The issue:
“A skatepark is wrong for this park.”
Not every site is the best place for a skatepark. The process for identifying the best sites for consideration should always be a technical exercise rather than a matter of personal preference. By the time you are ready to talk about a specific site with conviction you should be able to address this type of comment with the results of your siting study.
The answer:
In looking at potential sites, it’s important to establish specific criteria. The advocate needs to demonstrate that the best practices were used in considering different sites and that the opponent’s concerns were considered. For example: “We considered a number of locations and this proposed site scored highly on issues such as visibility, pedestrian activity, proximity to the residential neighborhoods, existing park activities, access to public transit, and several other matters. Please feel free to contact us if you’d like the full results of our analysis.”
The issue:
“The skatepark will be an eyesore.”
Any place where kids congregate to recreate and socialize is going to struggle with garbage. This is a true liability of skateparks and one of the trickier topics to address to an opponent’s satisfaction. The best response is to admit it, that skateparks can become messy, but that you and the parks department understand this and plan on doing everything possible to make sure that it doesn’t become a problem.
The answer:
It’s true that skateparks can sometimes become messy. The average age of skateboarders is 14, and picking up after oneself is not generally a high priority. We understand that extra measures must be taken to ensure that the skatepark is as tidy as possible by installing plenty of trash cans, a water fountain (so that plastic bottles don’t need to be brought to the park), and a rigorous volunteer stewardship plan that will have the skaters themselves working with the Parks Department to keep it nice.
“A skatepark will be too loud.”
This is easily the most common negative reaction that you’ll hear. The ironic thing about it is that it’s simply not true. There is no shortage of perfectly reasonable concerns about skateparks, but noise being one of those is pure fiction. Skateparks aren’t any noisier than other light public park activity. Nonetheless, most people who bring up the sound issue will be sincerely convinced that they’re on to something. None will have any evidence to support their assertion.
The answer:
Skateparks, especially concrete ones, emit less sound than most other park activities. Several skatepark sound studies have been conducted. The most notable was done by Portland, Oregon’s Parks and Recreation Department and found that their 10,000-square-foot skatepark emitted less constant noise than light automobile traffic. Baseball games and playgrounds are typically louder. With tact, nimble advocates may challenge this testimony by requesting contradictory results to existing sound studies.
“People will come from all over.”
The best approach largely depends on the site and what kind of skatepark you’re advocating for. If you are trying to gain support for a 20,000-square-foot “regional” skatepark, parking will almost certainly be part of the development plan.
The answer (for a destination skatepark):
Parking will be a component of the design.
If you’re advocating for the more common 10,000-square-foot “neighborhood” skatepark, then you will certainly want to help your audience (or a particular opponent) understand that the scale you’re talking about is not a concrete monstrosity. A misstep that many inexperienced advocates make is presenting a neighborhood skatepark to the surrounding residents as a world-class “destination” facility that will draw people from all over. While this sounds great to the average skater, it’s probably not going to sound great to the average person who lives across the street from the site. You’ll want to present the park as a local attraction for the neighborhood.
The answer (for a neighborhood skatepark or skate dot): Parking will be largely unnecessary as this park is intended to only support the surrounding area. Most skateboarders are too young to drive, and most will skate to the park or take the bus.
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