Skateboarders Need a Place to Catch Air

* After 30 years, cities and counties across the nation have discovered that skateboarding is here to stay. As with other youth sports that used to be practiced on the street, communities from Maryland to California have been coming together, creatively providing a safe environment for skateboarders too.

As any parent of a skateboarder will tell you, most of these youths are drug-free, anti-gang, hard-working, creative, independent-thinking and extremely gregarious individuals. They need a place to skate.

An open, public skateboarding area, designed with the help of pro skateboarders and made of cement with a few angle irons is not financially out of reach. As far as liability is concerned, what is a city’s liability for public cement sidewalks and the playground area in a public park?

Queen palms and the architecture of new theaters and malls are lovely, but so is the human form catching air between sky and cement with a foot board. If you’ve never seen the sport, take a little time out, as some downtown tourists do, and watch a group of skateboarders honing their skills.

Personally, I think our county and its cities can no longer afford not to embrace the sound character and tenacity of this growing group of individuals. And, since skateboarding is here to stay, the question is not can we, but when will we accommodate skateboarders?

VALARIE FELDMAN

Ventura