• Spaces for outdoor athletic recreation not only encourage a healthy lifestyle, but they also provide contexts for people to meet and forms friendships within the community.
• Teenagers and pre-teens who have outgrown playgrounds, but do not yet drive cars, can feel quite limited in what they are able to do with leisure time. They often default to screen time, playing video games, watching movies or interacting over social media. Parents who want their kids to have less screen time can struggle to suggest alternatives.
• Skateboarding is a recognized sport, now incorporated into regional, national and international competitions like the Olympics.
• Skateboarding is a strong interest amongst some teens and pre-teens, but in Lynden, the only areas to skate in are flat sidewalks, allowing very few opportunities to improve skateboarding skills.
• Building a skate park sends a message from the town to its youth that they are valued members of the community, and that the unique needs of their chapter of life are legitimate.
• A well-designed and inclusive skate park with picnic tables and bench seating can offer a context for parents, grandparents and friends to show interest and spend quality time with the skaters in their lives.
• More kids will try skateboarding if there is an exciting skate structure with graduated skill zones available in a safe space.
• Unique, well-designed skate parks can play a significant role in attracting tourism and boost local economy, enhancing a city’s reputation for youthful energy.
• Fewer young people will move away from Lynden when they become adults if there are spaces designed to meet their needs.
• Researchers have documented that skate parks are often the most utilized parts of a city’s park system, remaining busy throughout the year.
• A skate park can be used by skateboards, scooters, rollerskates, rollerblades, and BMX bicycles.
• Skate parks have been shown to be an appealing amenity, attracting tech and creative workers and their families to the area.
• The presence of a skate park will draw skaters and other kids on wheels away from other less safe places they might try to skate, or places where they might interfere with traffic.
• Skateboarding has been shown to improve mental health and many skaters report that it is an important stress-relieving activity in their lives.

Read articles about the benefits skate parks bring to local communities.

Skate Culture

Skateboarding can sometimes have a negative reputation with people who may associate it with grungy, industrial spaces covered in graffiti. However, many skate parks are clean, athletic spaces in safe and healthy communities. Most skateboarders learn the sport casually from experimentation and from other skaters in the context of skate parks, rather than from coaches or classes. The majority of skaters operate by a set of unwritten rules in which they show consideration to other skaters using a space and spontaneously help younger skaters with techniques when they see a need. There is usually an atmosphere of fellowship and cooperation amongst skaters, rather than of competition or aggression.