And by “skate spots” I mean the small skate areas installed by a Parks department, not some naturally occurring skate spot. This year Vancouver, Washington added three new skate spots to the three that already existed, with one more to begin construction in a “couple months.” On top of that, they’ve got two skateparks, granted one of them is a pre turn of the millennium P.O.S.. They’ve even got a web page that lists them all. Sure, these spots all kind of have a generic look to them, possibly due to the fact that they mostly made from prefab concrete elements, but still, they are probably fun spots to session. A network of many small spots can be achieved gradually as money permits instead having to wait for extended period with nothing until a more substantial amount of money can be raised. A town saturated with skate spots could be one way to go, as long as they didn’t start repeating the same prefab elements.

Ohio has a few renegade skateboard companies, including one called Sleezy Skates. In their own words: homemade spray painted planks from the heart of southern ohio. skatopia lurkers. doin it fer the kids in the sticks! These are a few of my favorites at the top. Although really crude, they have a large “body of work” that has definitely has an outsider art appeal. What more would you expect from the land of Skatopia and Devo? Check out Sleezy Skates.

Took a few snaps of the Ed Benedict miniramp today, Check them out over at the Skaters for Portland Skateparks site UPDATE: Reader video after the jump, including the jump!

This shot looks weird to me. I know the shoe is undersized, but the yellow and black object under the trucks looks like a parking block. Throw in the associated depth of field focus and you’ve got an interesting photo, thanks to Carl Warren. Check out the full frame version, this week’s Shot of the Week.

I don’t know what the heck they are building out in Hood River, but the more I see the better it gets. Carl Warren sent these pics of some expansion work. They are labeled “Mouse Trap” which calls to mind Pier Park, but the images don’t make it obvious. Whatever it is, I can’t wait till it’s done.

I almost let this one slip by. L’Oréal Paris has a Women of Worth award. They donate money to the nominee’s causes. In addition, the annual winner will receive a donation of $25,000 to the cause of their choice. In the running this year is Seattle’s Nancy Chang, who is one of the Co-directors of the Skate Like a Girl. So let’s stack the deck and become Nancy-boys. It’s time to vote for Nancy! Voting ends on November 24th. – Thanks to Bobcat for the tip.

Go Skate used to be one of the heavies in skateboarding mailorder. They had the coolest stickers and T-shirts that said Go Skate or Go Home!. I think this shop was out of San Francisco, and they used to carry a lot of rollerskating equipment primarily. (UPDATE: WRONG! I got my brain synapses crossed with Skates on Haight.) I looked it up onlne a year or so ago and they seemed to be focusing on inline skates. Jon Sheldon found an old Go Skate shop deck that I do not remember seeing before. Actually, I probably just ignored it at the time. Anyway, it’s a piece of skate history that isn’t as glamourous as some of the more well known boards, but still interesting enough to me at least. Check out a few pics after the jump.

As seen on the Skaterbuilt Skateboards MySpace page, as posted a mystery user going by the profile M.

Imagine the surprise the first time an unsuspecting tennis player showed up here. I’ve seen pictures of concrete tranny on asphalt surfaces before. Although generally a bad idea, It’s not entirely unheard of unfortunately, and especially in New England. Sprague, Connecticut has a skateboard facility that was built on top of a disused tennis court, which has a surface that should be better than most asphalt parking lots. Concrete Disciple user BillyBonebrake posted a bunch of shots and some background information on the project. I guess we might need a field office in Connecticut if the last few days are going to be typical. I wonder if Billy Bonebrake is related to D.J. Bonebrake? – Thanks to Mac for the tip.

The Portland Tribune has an article about The Steel Bridge skatepark project. Not really noteworthy, but there are some funny comments left by the “community” of readers, starting off with a bang from a NIMBY complaining of rampant drug use, violence and assorted crimes. Some of them are actually valid, but most are just gross exaggerations of behavior that isn’t limited or necessarily promoted by skateparks. Some are downright fabricated, as they claim illegal activities at a park that isn’t even open yet! Let’s be honest, skateparks attract kids. Not all of those kids actually skate. If anything, it ought to make it easier for police to prevent crimes, if all the criminals will allegedly be drawn to skateparks like moths to flame. Actually, let’s make that more like pointed metal objects are drawn to an unsuspecting cartoon character with a large magnet unknowingly stuck in his pants. UPDATE: Another article in Daily Journal of Commerce where the words landscape architecture loom large.