yeah i’ve got grand dreams of getting some additions to parks down here but nobody wants to take their time to go to meetings it seems. they would rather complain and smoke weed.
Dan, if you lived in Portland I’d think you were angling for a place on the SPS board.
Good discussion guys! I think the preferred contractors for street terrain are actually the general contractors who build actual civic plazas. A real opportunity for some landscape architect.
I believe New Line is an offshoot of a landscape architecture firm.
don’t get me wrong, i love the street portions of parks, I still go street skating on a regular basis in the real streets at 30 yrs old and am proud to be an ollie popper. up with street skating IMO.
Pier’s street course is fun, its small but the square footage of the big bowl and street area are fairly proportionate. the mid and little bowls tip the scales toward tranny skating but not much. and if i seem to remember correctly Portland is getting 19 skateparks!!!!!! get out to some meetings, take your friends, and add your input if you locals like street.
GL DL and AS are very tranny heavy builders, but comapnies like Site Design and Team Pain build some good street parks, and i hate to say it but the purkiss rose street park in springfield is pretty rad. we need to get more of these other builders involved or get the DL team some street skating edjumacation. also would these parks be getting built so quickly if DL wasnt doing it for cost!! its all about the benjamins.
I see only one real possibility for a solution to this problem: the old guys at Grindline, Dreamland, etc. need to form new street divisions for their companies. These should be headed up and staffed by competent and qualified street guys who know how to build what the kids want, and it should literally become half of the company’s focus. We’re talking serious business here… this needs to become the future of skatepark construction.
The only other option I thought of was having new companies start up whose only focus was street, and then having them work directly with Dreamland and so forth. But this would not only complicate things for the cities who already have a hard time choosing the right skatepark builders… it would also be a logistical nightmare getting the two companies to work together on construction. So I think the first option is much better.
And if there aren’t any street experts willing and available to go to work to do what is required to create a good street course? Then I’d have to say tough shit for the street skaters. They’ll have to take what the old guys do their best to build them and not complain when it’s not exactly what they want. Equal work, equal representation. That’s how it should be.
Strangely enough, I’m an old guy (older than all of you probably) and I agree with Shake. Companies like grindline are taking the public money, but seem to be taking that money to make parks that their friends (older vert ripers) would like to skate. Not what the majority of the people in the area (i.e. kids) would like to skate. Great for the vert guys, not good for most.
Street part of Pier was pretty much built to order according to the specs produced by the “street” advisor to sps, some cat that works for Adidas (skateboarding div)
Not level? Come on. Really? Where? Is it that noticeable? I’ve never heard that complaint. It’s smooth as hell too.
The street part of pier frankly sucks, I was really dissapointed by how dreamland built that, I looks like they spent all of their time making sure the transition was perfect and then as an after thought threw the street section together. it’s not even level. We need a more diverse, challenging, and better built street park (or 2) in portland. The guys at Dreamland and grindline build great parks lincoln city, and West Lynn are probably my favorite parks, but they can’t build street parks. I’m not talking about Albany so what if the kids like skating transition there, thats great, I love skating transition too, but look at the forest grove skatepark (also one of my favorites), everytime I’ve been there the place is packed and I see alot of people from the portland area there because its such a great park, and theres almost no transition there.
what’s wrong with the street area at pier that these kids are complaining ,i had a lot of fun skating it.
not all kids want more street, when we talk about expanding the albany park the consensus here is for a bowl, or more transition, and this is coming from kids age 10-21.
Ummmm… kids saying that should tell you something. If you guys havent guessed by now younger people skating now prefer street stuff, granted I believe that all aspects of skating should be embraced (thats a double standard for young and old alike) and kids should start getting an apreciation for gnarly parks like pier, lincoln city, etc. but the new parks being built sould satisfy street skaters needs so they can go there and you won’t have to hear people say stuff like that. Dreamland and grindline reign supreme out here in the NW as far as park building go’s but if you guys are trying to leave a younger generation with something they can enjoy and apprciate you should give em what they want.
11 comments
Danimal
yeah i’ve got grand dreams of getting some additions to parks down here but nobody wants to take their time to go to meetings it seems. they would rather complain and smoke weed.
Conahan
Dan, if you lived in Portland I’d think you were angling for a place on the SPS board.
Good discussion guys! I think the preferred contractors for street terrain are actually the general contractors who build actual civic plazas. A real opportunity for some landscape architect.
I believe New Line is an offshoot of a landscape architecture firm.
Danimal
don’t get me wrong, i love the street portions of parks, I still go street skating on a regular basis in the real streets at 30 yrs old and am proud to be an ollie popper. up with street skating IMO.
Pier’s street course is fun, its small but the square footage of the big bowl and street area are fairly proportionate. the mid and little bowls tip the scales toward tranny skating but not much. and if i seem to remember correctly Portland is getting 19 skateparks!!!!!! get out to some meetings, take your friends, and add your input if you locals like street.
GL DL and AS are very tranny heavy builders, but comapnies like Site Design and Team Pain build some good street parks, and i hate to say it but the purkiss rose street park in springfield is pretty rad. we need to get more of these other builders involved or get the DL team some street skating edjumacation. also would these parks be getting built so quickly if DL wasnt doing it for cost!! its all about the benjamins.
SKot
I see only one real possibility for a solution to this problem: the old guys at Grindline, Dreamland, etc. need to form new street divisions for their companies. These should be headed up and staffed by competent and qualified street guys who know how to build what the kids want, and it should literally become half of the company’s focus. We’re talking serious business here… this needs to become the future of skatepark construction.
The only other option I thought of was having new companies start up whose only focus was street, and then having them work directly with Dreamland and so forth. But this would not only complicate things for the cities who already have a hard time choosing the right skatepark builders… it would also be a logistical nightmare getting the two companies to work together on construction. So I think the first option is much better.
And if there aren’t any street experts willing and available to go to work to do what is required to create a good street course? Then I’d have to say tough shit for the street skaters. They’ll have to take what the old guys do their best to build them and not complain when it’s not exactly what they want. Equal work, equal representation. That’s how it should be.
–SKot
House of Neil
Strangely enough, I’m an old guy (older than all of you probably) and I agree with Shake. Companies like grindline are taking the public money, but seem to be taking that money to make parks that their friends (older vert ripers) would like to skate. Not what the majority of the people in the area (i.e. kids) would like to skate. Great for the vert guys, not good for most.
danimal
you should get on the skatepark committee then Shake and complain to people who care.
Kilwag (k.ed)
Street part of Pier was pretty much built to order according to the specs produced by the “street” advisor to sps, some cat that works for Adidas (skateboarding div)
Not level? Come on. Really? Where? Is it that noticeable? I’ve never heard that complaint. It’s smooth as hell too.
Conahan
You just like to see the old guys get all red in the face and sputtering don
Shake
The street part of pier frankly sucks, I was really dissapointed by how dreamland built that, I looks like they spent all of their time making sure the transition was perfect and then as an after thought threw the street section together. it’s not even level. We need a more diverse, challenging, and better built street park (or 2) in portland. The guys at Dreamland and grindline build great parks lincoln city, and West Lynn are probably my favorite parks, but they can’t build street parks. I’m not talking about Albany so what if the kids like skating transition there, thats great, I love skating transition too, but look at the forest grove skatepark (also one of my favorites), everytime I’ve been there the place is packed and I see alot of people from the portland area there because its such a great park, and theres almost no transition there.
Danimal
what’s wrong with the street area at pier that these kids are complaining ,i had a lot of fun skating it.
not all kids want more street, when we talk about expanding the albany park the consensus here is for a bowl, or more transition, and this is coming from kids age 10-21.
Shake
Ummmm… kids saying that should tell you something. If you guys havent guessed by now younger people skating now prefer street stuff, granted I believe that all aspects of skating should be embraced (thats a double standard for young and old alike) and kids should start getting an apreciation for gnarly parks like pier, lincoln city, etc. but the new parks being built sould satisfy street skaters needs so they can go there and you won’t have to hear people say stuff like that. Dreamland and grindline reign supreme out here in the NW as far as park building go’s but if you guys are trying to leave a younger generation with something they can enjoy and apprciate you should give em what they want.