Thank you so much for your help! <3
Michelle

Anyways, here are my comments:

Although there have been some excellent comments and information provided by former Long Beach Councilmember Mike Donelon and by Mike Hines, these are ultimately circumferential to identifying the real forces behind this ban, and the best way to overturn it. I called Etnies skatepark coordinator Nick Gates a few years ago to ask for information about the Etnies Skatepark and its new policy of allowing bike use. I was doing research for the “bikes in skateparks” advocacy I was doing in Arizona at the time. Mr. Gates was very curt and seemed to be displeased that bikes had been allowed into “his” precious skatepark. I have also had much experience here in Arizona in dealing with California Skateparks and SITE Design Group and seeing what I believe to be their rabid behind the scenes anti-bmx lobbying practices. I even have eye and ear-witnesses to this.

I believe that Nick Gates has been lying in wait for an opportunity to get bikes kicked out of “his” skatepark. When the remodel and expansion came up, he found his chance and I believe he colluded with California Skateparks and SITE Design Group to convince Lake Forest Councilmembers and city officials to ban bikes from the taxpayer-funded facility. This is why Lake Forest isn’t “getting it”, Mike (Donelon). The city DOESN’T WANT to “get it”. This is purely politics, and you know just as well as I how nasty that can be.

That being said, no reasoning with council or debate over the semantics of California liability law will get bikes back into this skatepark. The ONLY THING that will get bikes back into this skatepark is either voting out the council members that are against bikes, or convincing them they will be voted out. When the bmx riders, parents and their supporters that are Lake Forest citizens do this, the city will most assuredly find “a way to include kids” as Mike said.

PJ, I know you’ve made up your mind about the devastating effects of bikes in skateparks, so don’t let me confuse you with the facts. For everyone else that has not already cast their opinion in concrete (so to speak), I wrote an article on my website about a skatepark that doesn’t allow bikes in Peoria, Arizona. I showed photos of the wear and tear that skateboards have inflicted on this facility over the years. This park does not allow bikes, and the foolish rule is very well enforced. You’ll see, as Mike Donelon said, that most of the wear and tear (I refuse to call it damage, because it’s from normal use) is caused by the Grade-8 kingpins and hardened chromoly axles that stick out from skateboard trucks. When the board gets loose and goes flipping around (which occurs hundreds of times just in one average session by one skateboarder) it often lands on flat concrete with all its weight on one tiny point of hardened metal, thus exerting thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch. Kinda like a jack hammer, which, coincidentally, is the typical method used to destroy concrete.

You can read the article at http://www.psychicflyingmonkey.com/3BC%20page%20folder/exposition-of-bikes-damage-skateparks-myth.htm

I rode the Lake Forest Skatepark in May of this year, before kids who ride bikes were so callously banned. The skatepark had much wear and tear, but it had about the same amount as the Peoria Skatepark (which doesn’t allow bikes).

I also disagree with the standard damage and safety arguments that have been thrown around since the beginning of BMX advocacy.

Trucks break and those damage the ramps as much as a missed peg grind… its impossible to observe long enough to determine whether a board, bike or scooter with a tail dragging caused it, so how can you blame one user group?? Maintenance (and inspection) is an expense in any park, especially one designed primarily for children.

Also, park etiquette is park etiquette. From my experience, you can have the most timid bike rider who goes slower than almost any skater and you can have a boarder that goes faster, bigger and harder than 96% of bikers at the park. Learning to wait your turn and be aware of your surroundings is an important skill. When these kids start driving, will their defense for running over a motorcyclist be… he was going too fast and didn’t wait his turn?? No. (We had two SKATEBOARDERS banned from our park for recklessly running into other kids, so they wouldn’t get in their way in the future. This issue isn’t about choice of activity.)

BMX could use some more advocates… only cause their numbers are still so much smaller than skaters. But I believe that the common goal of both user groups is to encourage healthy, aerobic activity for kids, rather than inactivity or worse, illegal activity. Isolating certain user groups hinders this.

And what’s really more important?? if we aren’t going to teach kids to accept differences and possibly (although we never had to) spend a little money to get there, then are we really fully serving the public?

They are doing metal plating on top and bottom of the coping there. I think this is overkill, but obviously a good thing because it will mean even less wear and tear from the park users (both skate and bike).

Fresno and chandler BMX parks both lack the metal plates, and they are ridden exclusively by bikes. And despite this, the parks look good. I was inspecting fresno and I just couldn’t find anything but perfect coping.

In any case, Ben Ward, a true BMX hero, deserves credit for the the metal plate design. One of the many ways that guy has contributed to our sport.

While it may be true that some skatepark designers and builders make recommendations against BMX use, you should be careful that you do not overemphasize this “reason” that BMX aren’t allowed in more parks. It should be clear why but here’s what comes to mind:

• If the designer recommends against BMX, it’s the BMX community’s responsibility to improve their influence in the process.

• Creating a list of skatepark designers that have never built skate-only facilities will be an empty list. If you’re lucky you end up with one or two inexperienced designers. I don’t think this is good for BMX riders.

• ALL of the better skatepark designers and builders are mostly staffed by skaters. Some have BMX riders. Encouraging BMX-fueled DIY projects and (eventually) BMX-focused design firms is a positive, long-range goal.

• There are something like two-dozen skatepark design firms in the world. Their market is supported by skatepark advocates. There are no BMX-park designers that I know of because (it stands to reason) that there are not enough BMX advocates to support them. Incubating more advocacy IS something that BMX can and must do.

ASD may be your go-to designer but do you think they’ll turn down jobs offered by communities that aren’t interested in including BMX? It’s a business and, like any business, will respond to market draw. If BMX presents a compelling and potentially lucrative market, they’ll respond appropriately…as will Grindline, California, Dreamland, SITE, Newline, and all the rest.

(I’d recommend not endorsing any specific builders. As a nonprofit organization you may open yourself to risk by influencing commercial activity…not to mention the risk of libel for statements, true or not, that have a negative impact on a company’s revenue.)