"Dozens" of Skaters To Be Cleared From Downtown Streets?

Photo by Jose Reyes

From the Gazette (bolding emphasis is mine):

The county parks department plans to build a skate spot in the downtown Silver Spring neighborhood of Woodside Urban Park in a move that could take dozens of young skateboarders off the busy streets of downtown Silver Spring and put them in the neighboring park instead.

How's that supposed to happen with a 3,000 square foot skate spot that can only support 20 skaters?

And where will all the rest of Silver Spring's skaters go? If past is prologue, they're going to continue skating the same spots they've been skating for years, and not much will change. What is likely to change, however, is that the number of kids who skateboard in Silver Spring, which has risen dramatically over the past few years, is going to continue to rise — at least according to the National Sporting Goods Association (pdf):

Skateboarding 10-Year Winner in U.S. Sports Participation Growth

2008 - MOUNT PROSPECT, IL – Among sports and recreation activities that grew more than 15% the past 10 years, skateboarding led the way with a 74.1% growth, according to the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). Data contained in NSGA's annual "Sports Participation – Series I and II" reports, which are now available, shows skateboarding grew from 5.8 million to 10.1 million participants between 1998 and 2007. Target shooting had the second highest 10-year growth, 63.3% to 20.9 million participants.

"Explosion of Extreme Sport"

From the book Social Issues in Sport (Ronald B. Woods, 2007):

Explosion of Extreme Sport

Recent studies by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) and the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) show a dramatic shift in participation among teens and preteens from mainstream sports such as basketball and football to extreme or action sports. Since 1990, participation in football, baseball, and basketball among 6- to 17-year-olds is down more than 30%, while participation in action sports like snowboarding, skateboarding, and in-line skating is up in excess of 600% (SGMA 2005a).