Dear Arlington City Council,

   My name is Dan Hughes. I am a 39-year-old skateboarder and I have a 17-year-old son who also skates. I'm currently a custodian with the Bellevue School District. I've been skateboarding for about 25 years. I've skated so many skate parks I can't begin to name them all. I'm writing to you because I understand that you are considering building a skate park.
I think this is great, and I applaud anyone interested in building a skate park. One thing that bothers me more than anything else is a waste of public money. I pay taxes, and with many cities building public skate park facilities, I've become increasingly concerned that many are just a waste of time and money.
Basically, those who make these poor designs are not skaters, and/or never have skated. Imagine if someone who never played golf designed a golf course. This is what is happening, and the results are poor skate parks.
I understand that you are in the process of considering what type of skate park to build. Here's my opinion, as a seasoned, veteran skateboarder. First, the park should be made of concrete, simply because they are cheaper and easier to maintain, and safer because there are no screw heads to come out. But also, they offer so much more to the user than any other type of skate park. For example, the ability to roll from one item over the next in one flowing motion (often called the "flow" of a park).
Second, the park should have elements for every type of skater. This means a bowl that is deep enough to challenge even the advanced skater, and a street area for the street skater. These basic elements are necessary because as kids get better (and they do quickly), they will get bored quickly with smaller half-pipes, or quarter pipes, and move out to the streets in search of something more challenging (like jumping off loading docks or buildings). So, in my experience, it's really important that advanced elements be a part of the skate park. Something might not seem intuitive now, but will make complete sense once you've seen the kids skate the park for a year or so. In other, words, a bowl that is deep enough for kids to "grow" into. Now, of course this is only possible with concrete because wood bowls just aren't cost effective, especially in our NW weather.
Third, it must be designed and built by skateboarders. There are countless skate parks in our greater Seattle area that were not, and it shows. These parks are a waste of concrete in my opinion. Without a clear understanding of skateboarding, what a skateboarder likes, and doesn't like, it's impossible to create a successful park. These cities might as well have built a tennis court that is circular or a basketball court with no hoops. It just doesn't make sense, does it? Well, neither does a skate park that is designed and built by people who don't skate.

   Once you've got your basic design that contains those elements, other things to consider are lights (due to the fact that the sun goes down around here at 4 PM during the winter months) as most tennis courts have, and possibly a roof, due to the inability to use the park when it's raining.

   Basically, from a taxpayer point of view, I want to see public money used as efficiently as possible. And I can guarantee that a skate park that is concrete, has elements listed above, will be used more than any other public facility in Arlington. If you don't believe me, just drive by any concrete skate park on a weekend or after school on a sunny day. They fill up. That's users. And I will tell you one more thing, if you hire a company like Grindline to build it, your surrounding businesses will thank you. They build world-class skate parks. The kind that people travel from all around the world to skate. I should know, because I do just that. I go to different cities and skate their parks, and spend money on hotels, groceries, gas, and whatever else I need. They get my money, simply because they have a skate park that is worth the trip. In fact, I just got back from Klamath Falls, Oregon, where they built a top-notch skate park, one worth traveling to.

   To see some of the parks I've visited: Northwestskater.com



With much respect,

Dan Hughes