Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14049
AUGUST 2010 SPORTS & EDUCATION 76 WRITTEN BY FLOYD HAMPTON LIVINGSTON PHOTOGRAPHED BY HARTONO TAI URBAN PLAYGROUND FACES & PLACES : THE SCENE When it came time to fixing high crime rates in low-income neighborhoods to help youth avoid drugs and gang life, this city has taken a unique approach to remedy the problem. In many of the city's vacant lots and small plots of land officials saw potential. They knew local young people would be able to find inspiration in one of the most popular recreational activities – skateboarding. Unlike other cities, the local skate scene has become much more than a past time – it has become an intervention. What was once known to be a primarily suburban activity, skateboarding made its presence known in the urban communities of this city by lowering violent crimes by 30 percent as well as misdemeanor crimes by 60 percent, according to city officials. It took more than the use of rails and skateboards by the youth, but also a cultivation of collective efforts to make this possible. Former Long Beach City Councilman Mike Donelon, founder of the Long Beach Skate Park Program was one of the key supporters of elevating the skate scene in the city. "Kids are now picking up skateboards, not guns and jumping in the skate-park and not gangs," he said. "They (skate parks) give the minority youth the opportunity to interact in a positive manner and focus on tricks not crime. They get along and are role models to other youth." To the skaters, this subculture has a flip side that is about more than learning tricks and gaining fame, Accompanied with togetherness and a sense of leadership towards younger skaters, a skater comradeship has become a shared result of activities at the MICHAEL K. GREEN SKATE PARK located at 14th St. and Pacific Avenue. The park was once known as "ghetto" among the regulars and is now renamed in honor of a local upcoming skater, Photo courtesy of On The Grind