Still more Ed Benedict street plaza
Went by Ed Benedict to see the progress. They finished the quarters opposing the shots Kilwag got earlier. They seemed to be finishing up a lot of smaller sections of the park. It seems like it might be a while before it opens. Enjoy these awful cellphone shots..
Looks like they’ve poured a few more ledges and possibly even put down some granite too. Hard to tell.
Is it me or is it taking like forever for this park to get done?? Looks great though.
Are there any plans to stop bikers from ruining the ledges? look at how much less useful the waves at pier park are because of the chunks from pegs.
“Are there any plans to stop bikers from ruining the ledges? look at how much less useful the waves at pier park are because of the chunks from pegs.”
Hey dudseph, Not everyone can get extreme-o without the use of handlebars, seats, pedals, over sized wheels and training pegs. My little cousin can barley stand on a skateboard, but shouldn’t she be able to ride her bike on the smooth concrete? And don’t say she can just ride on the dirt… she doesn’t want to get he bike muddy.
Next year she has plans to get even more extreme-o by removing her breaks!
I finally trucked myself out there on Sunday to take in the park without the aid of the interweb. I like it. It’s going to be a great addition to the skatepark scene in town. The New Line design seems very good. The Dan Garland pieces are clever and cool. My previously articulated concern about the possibility of too much bank dedicated to the same angle seems for naught (to borrow a phrase from everybody’s favorite wholly unqualified former vice presidential candidate). There isn’t that much bank out there.
I share the same concern about unprotected ledges getting wasted in the first week. It’s one thing to ensure proper “street cred.” It’s another thing for an obstacle to lose its draw to skaters because it got wasted.
The bank-to-curb at Pier would get lots more use if it had been angle-ironed. Dreamland didn’t do that because they were asked to “keep it real.” Real was fun for a week. Now it largely gets ignored.
I don’t know how many of those ledges will be angle-ironed, but hopefully all, or at least most, will be.
I can’t help but regret that we put such a cool park in such a remote (for many) location. No disrespect to Outer SE street skaters – you guys are stoked – but this would have been a great park to put in a more central location along a light rail line where everybody could get to it.
I think they choose to put the park there becuase in 9/09 max will run on 92 so that is pretty close i lived within a block and im hella stoked but the park isnt too sick just nice cause i dont have to take bus to get to a skate park. the five is huge once yyou try it but its fun.
Greg N get back to work!
Us SEasters are stoked on the location. Bus #9 goes out there. Its right on Powell. Pretty accessible, in my opinion.
Brandon, stop poaching!
Hey Greg, Not sure if your post was serious, but if it was you should recognize that it is skateboarders who are advocating for these bangin skateparks getting built and not bmxers. It doesn’t sound like you are aware that bike pegs cause much more damage to concrete than skateboard trucks; think about the weight of a bike compared to a skateboard… Wouldn’t you be bummed if the only basketball court on your side of town was broken within a week of opening?
Also, Angle iron is not the answer. NO PEGS!!
Dudeseph… Hehe Ya I was TOTALLY kidding. As Portland skaters we really have done some great work, but I feel we have fallen short in that we haven’t distinguished skating as a wonderfully challenging act that deserves the respect of having its own venue. Instead we build these amazing places to skate and allow anyone with Extream-o gear to use them. Many kids see the handle bars, seats, and pegs; and either sit down for fear of getting run over… or go get their bike for an easy way to get some air or a “grind”.
A positive result of this is that it creates die-hard skaters… the negative result is more apathetic bikers that wait for another SKATE PARK to be built and more wounded skaters. Oh .. and yes the ruined parks.
Portland is building skate parks, not bike parks. There do, though, seem to be enough bmxers to support a dedicated bike park or two. What if two of the next 14 parks were bike-only (sacrilege!)? Or, as a compromise, build a “bike bowl” in a couple of the upcoming parks. That’s where they get to ride.
Once the first one is built, no bikes allowed in the skate parks any more. It seems like one or two out of the 19 is a reasonable “sacrifice” to clean up this mess, avoid more confrontations, collisions, and damage, and respond to an apparent community need. In the planning process for the bike parks/bowls, if no one shows up, indicating an indifferent user-community, then ban them from the skate parks anyway, and don’t build the bike parks. I have a feeling they’ll show up, though.
I don’t like skating with bikers, and I don’t like the damage, but I don’t have anything against the activity itself, and I think they should be able to ride somewhere sick that was designed for bikes. This doesn’t solve Battle Ground or Tigard, but Portland’s a start. Basically, I don’t want to have to think about them anymore when I’m skating.
I agree Mac. Its Kinda sad that the bikers never picked up on the energy of Portland skaters and built their own deal. I think a Bike park could reinvigorate the sport… instead they just seem to be content to follow skaters shadows. I look forward to the day of heading down to a bike park to see what new stuff is going on… just like people head down to Burnside and check it out.
skate boards mess up ledges worse than bikes do even with pegs on
I’m not trying to fan the flames here. But just for the record, I have seen bikes hit ledges and watched good size chunks fly off as they did. As well as I have watched bikes dent steel coping. Never seen any skateboards do that.
A little physics education about hardness and mass. Steel is harder than concrete whereas aluminum is not. Bikes have way more mass than do skateboards. More mass and more steel translates into more damage. This doesn’t even take into consideration velocity/acceleration. Not once have I seen a skateboard chip the bottom of bowl when it flew to the bottom. I can’t say the same for bikes with pegs. It’s simple physics. That’s not to say that bikes are bad it’s just that they do have the potential to inflict more damage on concrete Now put the bike into the hands of someone not skilled enough to control the bike and you have a recipe for damaged concrete and humans. It’s not the bike/skateboard that does the damage in the end but rather the person doing the riding. A little respect goes a long way.
ignore the base question, and change the subject. you really are a politician, tommy.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BIKES, MR MAYORS RIGHT HAND.
i say build one or two parks by bikers and for bikers
if you really dont like them damaging your ledges and coping, then rally for it
bikers will be down to
just do it
Albany is working on building a bike only park.
will jones- we’ve been “rallying” to keep you dudes out of our shit for years, and now you want us to “rally” for parks for you?
why don’t you fucks “rally” for your OWN parks?
oh, that’s right, because its easier to let us do the work, and then barge the results.
you guys are parasites. fuck you.
dude, calm down, its all going to be alright, all im saying is that its not fair to bikers, they should have a place to go to, and why not help with that because it benefits us (the skateboarders) to
they have there place, we have them out of our parks, win win, thats all i was saying
but yes i agree bikers need to get this done themselves, skateboarders can help but if its not made by bikers and for bikers then its not even worth the time or money
or maybe when all 19 parks are built, all the skateboarders can decide which one is the shittiest, never go to it, and just let the bikers have it, and if you ever see a biker at a skatepark, tell them to go to their park
I think there should be more divisions not less. Maybe small gangs or cliques(like the movie the warriors) devided by very small and subtle nuances. Possible gang names could be “The big air angels”, “front side slashers”,”kickflip killas”,”manual madmen”,”handrail hellions”,”andrecht assasins”, “bluntin bastards”, etc. etc. With colors or vests like The angels or mongols or jaks. I think they should all fight for real for turf or “spots” instead of talking about it on the internet.hahaha. sorry I was bored.
BMX riding is not a crime.
no,but talking all the smack you do should be.
from tennesee nonetheless.
Okay, here is some “smack” talk.
If BMX riders got together, lobbied for and built a park. Let’s say this concrete park was great for bikes and was something new and really good for skateboarding.
So good in fact that skateboarders had never seen nor ridden something so good and just had to ride it.
Would you say that skateboarders should be prohibited from riding that park? What would you say would be the punishement for skateboarders barging the park?
Now let’s say that a town built a nice plaza that was lobbied for and built in response to the needs of pedestrians. It was full of smooth concrete, rails, seats and ledges. Would you say sjkateboarders should not ride it? What would you say should be the penalty for skateboarders barging it?
You get me? skateboarders are a joke and their opinions mean nothing when they try to keep anyone off “their” turf.
You made you bed. How does it feel?
Rode eggs benedict this weekend. Man I couldn’t be happier.
The mellow, spread-out setup recreates the feeling of real street skating, which is the prime directive. You can go fast or slow.. get gnar or technical. I know it’s new and novel, but I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun at a skatepark just cruising around hopping over stuff.
From the looks of it, whatever isn’t angle ironed right now is going to have a granite slab on top.
The only bad thing I can see having to deal with other than mass populous is the people driving by yelling stupid shit. I can see that happening constantly with the road so close.
DaddyYo … your smack talk might have a little more bite if it didn’t contain all these imagined “Lets say”‘s. I think thats kinda the joke about the bikers… its all talk and taking the easy way.
Bunny hops in the skateboard park.
Greg N – let me help you with your reading comprehension.
When I said “let’s say” I was setting up an analogous hypothetical situation.
A part of that hypothetical situation was an
Your comparing apples and oranges. Try growing at least one apple tree and then talk.
… OK Im done being a smart-ass. 🙂
Skateboards are banned, which is why we have this skate plaza that is not conducive to bikes.
Anyway, the finish, height and pitch of everything is pretty swank.
Starting from the top you’ve got 4-6 opportunities for tricks before hitting the launch gap. The flat is made for skating first, drainage second, which was a big concern of mine personally. I can’t seem to dial anything on a sloped surface.
what the fuck does it mateer what your riding and where your riding?
were both riding kids toys grow the fuck up and ride what you got!
stop all this bullshit about where he can ride and where i can ride. winy ass people trying to complain theres more then one park out there if you dont like a park because the ledges are shit because of bikes and there pegs then keep your ass out of the park. Greg n, ride your wood and be happy that theres even a place to skate. 19 new parks and your still bitchin shut up
Carl Says:
December 1st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Skateboards are banned, which is why we have this skate plaza that is not conducive to bikes.”
Skateboarders are not banned. You have one of the most liberal skate laws in the country.
You can’t deface public or private property. No amount of skate plaza construction is ever going to stop that.
By your reasoning since bikes are banned from this plaza then a bike plaza should be built.
A bike could ride on any of those transitions.
wtf – well said.
WTF said “does it mateer what your riding?”
You’ve got to be joking. If you don’t take an interest in the process then you deserve to get skateparks like the one below and not complain about it:
Lat I counted, only 4 of 19 have been built.
WTF said “be happy that theres even a place to skate”. Ahhh, the timeless call of the underachiever. By any chance do you get extreme with the help of a seat, handlebars, chain, pedals, breaks, over sized tires, and a ‘grind’ pole? With ALL that gear you would think that bikers could step it up and get a bike park built. As for me, no, Im not content, I will continue to support new parks for skating… Examples? Burnside skate park benefit, Hood river, etc. Its the bikers who are just “happy that theres even a place” that allows bikes. Again, kinda sad. 🙁 I would say take a look around and get inspired by all the skaters BUILDING stuff, and organize to get a bike park made. You can do it!
Skaters for Public Bike Parks
The bikes have taken over my skateparks because all the old guys don’t skate any more.
And no. The old guys don’t skate because their are too many bikes. The bikes ride the street and flow bowl.
The pool that that the old guy skateboarders wanted so bad stand unused most of the time.
I got the city to build my skatepark (and I got the local Y’s to buid three before that) and I didn’t ride bikes or skateboards at the time.
I lobbied to make sure that bikes were not banned. Good thing too. Otherwise nobody would be using our park now.
BMX riding is not a crime. Sound familiar?
“BMX riding is not a crime. Sound familiar?”
No.
Hood River has a huge BMX’ican crowd and we all ride together as friends. We even have little ‘Bike Parks” littered around the town too! We got a community that welcomes one and all. Except you DaddyYo- Your not welcome because you would be ‘boosting your self inflamed ego” and looking like a total ‘Barney’. You and the Crappy Board Rack guy should just go gay off together………..SHUT UP AND SKATE!
“Estes’ Ghost Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Hood River has a huge BMX
PANTYHO WROTE: WAH WAH WAH.
Your still not welcome. I hope Ryan Heckler tears you a few more a-holes. I’m no hippy- and as for a nobody- I won’t even address that as I have done more for skateboarding, biking and snowboarding that you can only dream of………..
Your rants are pathetic. I have several gay friends that wouldn’t touch your butthole……..your personality is a box of rocks. Stay on the internet all day and continue your ‘bottom feeding off comments.
BMX is gay and always will be. BMX=Rollerblading. Stay Home KOOKS!!!!!!!
I have donated money to parks it might not be the largest amount of money but its something correct. as for not letting bikes in parks I might as well take my bike to the back of the bus and let the skaters sit up front.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU6AB3E42a8
watch that link and tell me that trucks on skateboards don’t destroy skateparks