BMX in skateparks!

Be kind to you two-wheel-ed friends

Some of you live in towns where there are no public skateparks. Others have a local public skatepark but the "no bikes" rule is enforced leaving you with no fun, legal, safe place to ride. Below are my thoughts and experiences with skateparks and how to get one built or get access to the one that already exists.

The first thing to do is to stop whining about it and moaning incoherent comments about skateboarders and go do something about it. Things are not going to change by them. Gandhi did not ask the British nicely to leave India and then step back. He acted.

Do some research and be ready to articulate your argument for why the local authorities should build a public skatepark or let bikes in the one you already have. Most of the reasons why bikes are not allowed in skateparks are bogus, so refute those claims. Write it all down.

When you have some idea what you want to say, call your local city government and ask to talk to someone in the Parks and Recreation Department, or whatever department you have that handles stuff like that. Ask them if you can set up an appointment to sit down and talk with him/her in person. Talking over the phone will not get you anywhere most of the time. Give them copies of any information about the advantages of public skateparks, reasons why bikes should be allowed, statistics on how many people are into skating/bmx, etc.

Next, get a coalition of skaters, inliners, bmx riders, local bike- and skateshop owners, PARENTS, teachers, etc interested in helping you with the effort to support, design and build the thing or get your bikes allowed in the park. Getting adults, especially parents, will help the cause a LOT. Depending on your age, most of you probably don’t pay taxes and you don't vote, but your parents do. There is tons of information on the Internet about public skateparks. Start here: http://bmxriders.org/ (lots of links from there too.)

A note about petitions: get LOCAL people to sign a petition if you want to go that route or gathering support. Online petitions are easy to create but they are worthless. Do not bother getting all of your buddies on Myspace to sign your petition. No civic official is going to care if Joe Blow from Australia signed your petition if you are trying to get a park built in Springfield, USA. Joe doesn’t pay taxes, work, or vote in your town, so why would city officials care what he thinks they should do with other people's taxes? Getting a broad coalition of individuals from different walks of life (age, education, sex, occupation, location in town, etc) is going to mean a lot more than sheer numbers.

Next, go to any public parks department or City Council meeting, or whatever equivalent you have in your town. The city council may be a good idea, but the parks department would be the place to start because they are the ones who have to bring the idea of a skatepark before city council before anything else can happen, so go to the parks department first. They should allow a time for public comments, so you can stand up before the Council and state your case for a publicly funded skatepark for skating and BMX riding, or a change to the rules at the skatepark(s) you have to allow bikes. They will be 1) ecstatic about the idea, 2) confused and hesitant or 3) totally opposed to the idea. Don’t get discouraged if they aren't immediately stoked on the idea. It takes some cities more than a decade to be convinced to build a public skatepark. If some nearby towns have public skateparks already, invite the folks from your town to use those skateparks as examples.

If you're lucky, the local newspaper will catch on and write about it. Find out who the reporters in the audience and talk to them. If you can't find a reporter (they are a dying breed, I know this from personal experience!), call one on the phone. They may be itching for a good story and want to write about your plight. Free publicity! Make sure you find someone articulate to talk to the newspaper.

Once city leaders realize there is a demand for a public skatepark that allows bikes, just like there is a demand for walking trails, playgrounds and athletic facilities like baseball, soccer, tennis, etc, they will want to get started. The best thing to do, in case they don’t think of this, is to have a public meeting, inviting all interested locals to share their ideas for skatepark design, location, features, etc. publicize that meeting big! 

Once the ball gets rolling, make sure the local skaters and BMX riders stay involved in the process the whole way through! If the city thinks they can do it on their own, they will screw it up and make a crappy skatepark that no one will ride, wasting a ton of taxpayer money. Make sure they get an actual skatepark designer to design the park. Old guys who have never stepped on a skateboard might know a lot about designing libraries and sidewalks, but a skatepark needs a skater/rider to design it or it will be a big waste of money.

Keep in mind that this is a long process. You are dealing with government bureaucracy and taxpayers' money. They will probably have to wait until the next bond election for the voters to have a referendum on how they want their tax dollars spent. It may be easier and faster, in the meantime, to go to a local civic organization to get something temporary built. A local church, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, etc might be able to get something built faster, so try those too.

If you are writing a letter and you are not a seasoned writer, ask an English/composition or government/civics teacher from school to help you. If you are a student, maybe they will give you extra credit! If you really get involved in this, you will be A) writing a formal letter (writing skills), B) delivering a speech in public (English/speech skills) and C) engaging democracy in a concrete way (government/civics skills). A teacher might also help you articulate your argument and make sure the letter looks good so they will pay more attention.

I have seen this process in action more than once. Do not hesitate to ask me more questions about public skateparks.