Feature Jul 5, 2012 at 4:00 am

As Downhill Skating Explodes, Portland Will Either Reform the Sport or Outlaw It

Comments

1
Just put speed bumps in the most dangerous streets. That wouldn't cost much and would be more effective than trying to outlaw it.
2
I'm a street skater so not sure how relevant this is to this particular story, but I'd disagree with the sentiment that "Portland has always been good to skateboarders." During the 90s in downtown (specifically 1993-1998 in my experience), cops were SUPER aggressive about ticketing skaters.

They'd sweep through Waterfront Park and ticket anybody with a board. I personally received 2 $290 tickets and dozens of warnings as a young teen (13-15). Their priorities were pretty fucked at the time. However, things seem to have improved since then.
3
I can't be the only one who thought that was a chick with no tits in the top image.
4
Great story! More skaters need to get involved in the politics in their area. Billy knows you need to play their game and beat them at their own game is the only way to stick your muddle finger in their face with out being punk about it! Fight fire with fire!
Fight for your rights!
The guy that said add speed bumps is funny. Early grabs for everyone!
i think that would add to the fun and danger factor. lol...
5
Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars fighting something that is so popular why doesn't the city allocate an area for use by people that enjoy this sport. They could incorporate it into a park with a good long slope in some area, surface the ground with smooth asphalt in several different configurations, (a straight speed course, a course with turns, and perhaps a skill course) put up a safety fence and some barricades along with rules and an automatic release of all indemnity of the city if participants decide to use the facility at their own risk, And let it rip!

Many cities in California now have open skateboard parks(That wouldn't have even been jokingly considered in the 80s-90s) incorporated into free day use parks and it seems to work for them. They found a way around the liability issue and helped move skateboarders out of dangerous traffic areas while at the same time giving them a place that is much safer to practice their passion for this sport.

Something politicians need remember, THOSE "SAME YOUNG PEOPLE CAUSING ALL THIS TROUBLE" WILL GROW UP AND VOTE ONE DAY! So, what side do you want them on? - The one where they feel authority is to be feared and hated, Or the one where they realize that authority and government work together with people to provide for the needs of all!!!
6
1) they're gonna outlaw downhill skate and then
2) get back to complaining that our children are overweight and don't do any sports.

Old people freak out, but they've got to know that since the beginning of the 2000's, the technology and techniques has made huge leaps forward: we have now oversided boards for increased stability, harsh grip tape that keeps our shoes firmly stuck to our boards, high-precision trucks for further stability, we have an arsenal of braking techniques and the wheels that makes those techniques easier than ever. The dominant attitude in downhill is that if you don't wear at the very least your helmet and gloves, and that you don't have a decent board, you're not worth dealing with.

Our community strongly encourages learning all the proper technique before hitting the biggest hills, and to respect the speed at which we can pull off those techniques, and by that I mean, we can always brake if we need to.

So yeah.

There's still a problem when really fast skaters meet with a certain density of traffic. A ban would be counter-productive; going full thermonuclear war against a community is the best way to have such a community hating you.

Speed bumps could be decent: a fair way to reduce the overall speed quite a bit and that would be a very good thing. I don't ultimately know what we should do about skaters. Having dedicated downhill parks would be really great: I just feel that the the downhill community should be heavily implicated in the conception process: it would just be too easy for the authority to built a shitty park that no one will use and call the problem solved.

Personal rant: I think motorists should be educated too. Those guys don't know how to fucking behave with us. I've seen just so many riding way too close up my ass or right besides me. This sort of driving makes the braking techniques I was talking of horribly awkward and dangerous to use. Just stay the fuck behind, or if you decide to pass, do it or don't, but don't fucking stay on my side.

Please wait...

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