Last Northside Council Meeting

Well, Ali had to cover the meeting without me. I missed it for the coming of this little dude. Some of you know I'm a pastor, right? So that's what's getting in the way sometimes with making the meetings: people before stuff...

At the meeting, Ali presented a cad drawing and fielded questions, the best of which was, "Where are all the skateboarders?"

Odds are, there will not be a serious presence of skateboarders at the meeting. This initiative on behalf of the Northside Community Council needs to be founded, not on demands made by the skateboarders (although design should be managed by competent skateboarders), but on the desire of the Council to incorporate the energy that skateboarding has consistently brought to everything it touches into the fabric of that needy area of the community.

Skateboarders will get involved, as they always do, as the process gains momentum. Looking at the skateparks around us in communities like Delhi, Florence, St. Bernard, Wyoming, Lawrenceburg, Fairfield, Middletown, Kettering, Georgetown, Lexington, Dry Ridge...
Looking at these other skateparks (...Anderson...) we'll see that the benefits of a skatepark are worth the work that go into them...

Looking forward to the next meeting...

Northside Community Council considers drawing

This coming monday there'll be a sketch of the proposed skatepark. Come see Ali Calis present it.

Picking up again...

Well, it's been months since my last posts...

I'm still in the game, with a more finely honed vision for what I want to see happening with skateboard facilities in the city I live in.

In short, to be elaborated later on, I'd like to see skateboarding facilities embedded in "at risk" neighborhood as a positive alternative to the "Big Three Options" that face most kids I know here in Northside:

1. Pro Basketball Player
2. Rap Star on BET
3. Dealing Drugs on the corner with my cousins

Let's face it. There are parks available in the Cinci Area, but how many of them are even on the bus lines? Those that are are not within an hour of these kids. Skateparks are going up like wildfire in the midwest, but they are a SUBURBAN, AFFLUENT, PHENOMENON.
Adding insult to injury, most of these fine skateboard companies and people who push for parks are drawn in by some amalgam of "hardcore", "outlaw", "urban rough" cultural trappings. Dressed as something revolutionary, yet truly available to only the richest americans.

You have to have access to a CAR to use the Skateboarding Facilities around Cincinnati.

So let's do something really cool. Let's get grants and scrape together philanthropic donations to get high-quality, durable, low-maintenance, concrete skateboarding facilities incorporated into the city-scape of Cincinnati. We can do this in neighborhoods and properties that would otherwise breed crime.

Frankly, skateboarding will provide "Option 4", plus exposure to people from all walks of life. Skateboarding will become a vehicle of exposure for people from all over to meet and interact with kids and people in the inner city.

Racial Barriers
Social problems
will be exposed and eroded...

Potential Help
will be discovered
as people come to enjoy the park and meet children there who exist on social programs...

advocacy can be generated by such exposure...
crime can be reduced in neighborhoods as higher population ofusers "hardens the target". And Skateboarding is a perfect vehicle for it, as skateboarders tend to be willing to take small risks lightly... a park in a difficult neighborhood will be heavily trafficked, provided that it is high-quality.

Some thoughts with more to come.

Anyone want to coalesce? drop me a comment.

Philosophical Question:

In this month's (May) issue of SLAP Magazine, a skateboarding publication, there is an article on p.12 that is worth considering. It is a short piece that simply asks:

Why is it acceptable, even commendable, to receive injuries in school sports? Why is it Okay for my young friend Cliff to blow out his Knee in football? Nobody minded.

And in juxtaposition:

Why is it so unacceptable, almost universally condemned, to receive injuries while skateboarding?

Please comment.

Skateboarding Injuries

Does anyone know what perspective a comparison of injury rates between skateboarding and school sports?
You will be surprised!

I will give you some anecdotal material right now, and will supply more stats, as time allows:

On Saturday, I enjoyed the Grand Opening of the brand new Delhi Skatepark. a Great park, well-designed, and worth the gas money for Cincy residents...

600 people showed up! Packed in, skating together, there were somewhere between 2-400 people participating at once! It was incredible.

There were two injuries!
one-a head injury--a little boy, about 8 years old riding a bike. Looked like a bruised orbital.
the other--a typical ankle twist--probably a break. More time for homework...

There was a twisted shoulder and a bruised palm as well.

600 people.
NO FIGHTS

600 people.
2 injuries worth mentioning...

All while SKATEBOARDING!!!!

2 visits from the paramedics!

Meanwhile, the Women's softball league had 3 visits from the paramedics! That day! yet one person had the perspective, "This skatepark was a big mistake. A big mistake." Upon the second call to paramedics...

Pish Posh. That's what I say.
I confidently assert that, after seeing the stats, you'll agree that Skateboarding is healthier and safer than School sports!
Prepare to be surprised.

500+ skateboarders packed in like sardines, taking turns, sharing, helping each other out... and we're surprised at a couple of injuries!
Why is it that wen a kid gets injured in a football game he's a hero?
...and when he (or she--girls are allowed on the skateboarding team) gets hurt skating, he or she is an IDIOT?

This mentality will be destroyed by simple facts.

Skateboarding Saved My Life

Skateboarding, and the diversity of its practicioners, has expansive potential to affect inner city youth. Please enjoy this little clip that shows how Skateboarding positively affected one young man.

Positive Aspect:

The McKee Center's dude, Don, called me the other day, asking if I was interested in helping with the youth leadership programs. (I have a ton of experience and background in that stuff)

Yes.

I'll start an initiative that will get at least one great skatepark built in Northside. Then, I'll be available to work with tons of youth in that skatepark. There, they will discover alternatives in life that they would never have, outside the power of skateboarding to bring together people from all walks of life.

Artists
Accountants
Lawyers
...not too many doctors...

There are skaters who will be there whose lives are easily shared over the waits between runs. The kids of our neighborhood will be exposed to PEOPLE. Good people. there are so many.

Besides that, the facility will be a wide open opportunity for camps and classes!

Think about that and leave comments.

Northside Community Council: April 16th

Here are the notes I spoke from at the council meeting.
A motion to send a letter to the City of Cincinnati, urging them to give "Sector A" to skatepark use, was passed unanimously (with a LOT of members present).


What a Skatepark is:

Concrete

Prominent

Open


Where they go:

Skate-able terrain

Neighborhood SkateParks

World Class City SkatePark

Proper placement for maximum positive impact....



What good they are:

enrichment
-local business (food, gas)
-Neighborhood


popularity and Reputation
-establishment of new levels of commerce (tattoos, Punk Rock, Hip-Hop)



Crime prevention

-a properly placed Skate Presence will run out crime.






OUR PROPOSAL:


"Northside: The First Skate-Friendly Neighborhood in Cincinnati/The Midwest/America/The World"




1. Skate-Able elements/areas incorporated into strategic areas
-American Can
-Children's Park
-Streetscape
-Not marginalizing, but embracing the 40+ year art/sport phenom of skate culture



2. Establishment of a Quality Local Park in "Sector A"
-secure neighborhood
-impact crime
-create great reputation



3. Nurture and Development of Skate Culture/Art in Northside
-Skate Shop
-increase visibility of Northside as a "Skate Mecca"



De-marginalizing Skateboarding in Cincinnati, starting in Northside, can't help but enrich our community way beyond the costs.





Practical Action Points for Northside Community council:

1. N-Side CC to get behind it and push!
-guide fund raising
-press
-politics

understand value versus cost:
Positive
supportive
"can-do" attitude


2. Secure Sector A




3. Interface effectively with CRC.

We want this.

We don't buy into the "Liability" misunderstanding.

We push through "conservinertia".



Thanks to every member who voted (unanimously) for Sector A to be given to SkatePark use. We know that the city will hear you, and we will soon (=er or later) have a great park for the betterment of our youth and community.

Skatepark Profile: Sessions

Skatepark Profile: Louisville, KY

Here's what you get when a city awakens to the potential of skateboarding: a world class park, downtown, incorporated into the banks project. Awaken, O mighty giant Cincinnati!

SkatePark Profile: Florence, KY

Park Profile: Dry Ridge

I'll be posting the footage I'm collecting. Dry Ridge is my first ever video editing job, so please just sit back and relax. Get the big picture. Parks are made of concrete. Parks are open. Parks are empty during the early hours of the day, when I'm free to take footage... with my five year old, seth, in tow.

Dry Ridge, people. Little, tiny, Dry Ridge--GETS IT. A good skatepark is a magnet for good things.

Venice Beach, CA

Here is your example for a city that has accepted skate culture to it's benefit. From VB to Santa Monica, there is skateable terrain, and skateboards are a common mode of trans- portation. I skated a full 15 miles that day, meeting people from all over the world who had come to that area to enjoy that open culture. I skated most of the day with Iggy, a young man from England who had come to skate Venice Beach.

The photos here are of some of the simple street obstacles that VB provided for the skaters. Besides this, there are numerous parks and spots. It is a great feeling to be able to jump on my skate and fly, without wondering about a 400 dollar ticket.

Clifton Hills Improvement Assoc. May 10th

Thanks to Peter and all the folks at the CHIA. You are a great example of seeds that grow into hair when stuck to terracotta animals or heads... no. wait. That's "Chia". Only one capital letter.

Well, we've been invited to the CHIA meeting, and we'll be there on the 10th of May. It was great to hear from Peter through the blog. Thanks to everyone who is reading and interested.

2004 Article Begs Question: Why Not, Cincinnati?

"Greater Cincinnati" boasts (in 2004) Eleven Skateboarding Parks! Why are there no plans for providing a quality (world-caliber) skateboarding attraction in our City Limits?

Click here for an article that Begs it hard

Way back in 2004 this was going on. I moved into Cinci in 2004.

Northside, where I live, understands the importance of Skate Culture. It is not a subculture anymore. The influence is in fashion, music, art of all media. The Skate-Culture has soaked into commercials and youth culture.

Hopefully N-side will lead the City in the incorporation of Skate-able terrains in the Limits. Everyone knows that Louisville had the foresight to include a World-Class park in their city plans. They're not sorry, either.

Park Profile: Anderson/Beechmont

Click Here for the Anderson Park District's Website description of this Skatepark

Local Park Profile: St. Bernard Mini-Park

This park is located in St. Bernard, about 10 minutes outside of Northside. It can't be more than 1500 square feet. Maybe less than a thousand.
It is concrete, open till 10pm, and has recommendations posted. That is the practice. Post recommendations. Nationwide, that's enough.


It is part one of a phasic proposal. We hope they'll build the rest. I skate this park, personally, a LOT. I go there in the mornings to practice, being an old guy. Consider it like a morning run.

Here's a 2004 Enquirer article on the parks in the area:
Click the text for the full article:
St. Bernard Skate Park
Ross Avenue Park
St. Bernard
(513) 641-3137

The details: The first public skate park in the Tristate, this small concrete park is a haven for those seeking a simple skating experience - if you can use it. The park is restricted for use by St. Bernard residents only, so you might want to be prepared to flash an ID.

March 19: Northside Community Council Meeting #2

We appeared for the second time, having been told we'd be on the agenda, to sit through the agenda-ed items of business (this time NOT boring) without being announced. Grabbing a copy of the agenda, we realize, again, that we're not on the agenda.

interesting.

Not a problem at all. We got a chance to talk for 2 minutes and hi-five the crowd. Hopefully we'll be on the agenda for real, next time, and get to show our presentation that will convince the folks in government and finance that a skatepark will affect this community and this city in really dynamic, positive ways.

Our presentation is going to answer definitively any questions about what kind of park to build, how they're managed, how many cities are doing it, and how to finance it.

Liability
Rules
Access
Location...

the works.

We also handed out "the card". for 2 dollars and a buck fifty for cutting, you have in your hands the contact info for discussion and update of the Skatepark Initiative.

next N-side Community Council Meeting: Monday April 16th.
The presentation's on.
We'll have a video and some art.
5 minutes
many man hours.
just the right information.

Feb. 26 First Presentation: Northside Community Council

Ali Calis and Lew Ross (me) got to do a quick little plug for our upcoming presentation to the Council. We'll have the whole 5 minute dealio next month. Needless to say, we were hard-pressed to match the breakneck speed of business there, but everyone was pretty kind with us new guys.

Ali and I will both join the council next month. 3rd Mondays.

It was really interesting that a local Scout troop was there--my son's. We didn't know, and he didn't go, but they are totally behind it. In fact, when their campout was cancelled, I took a couple of them to Ollies, in Northern Kentucky.

That meeting was on Feb. 26th.