We can’t let community stereotypes prevent Cupertino from building a skate park.

Early Plans

In 2000, Cupertino was ready to build its skate park. There was high demand for one. The city had everything ready — the committee, the money, the architect — but all that was beat into dust and pulp by one factor: opposition fueled by misconceptions of skateboarding.

People not involved in skateboarding culture must stop assuming negative stereotypes about the activity. Only then might Cupertino finally gain the needed support to build that highly-beneficial skate park. The chance to fulfill that plan is here. Let’s seize it.

About fifteen years ago, there was high demand for Cupertino to build a skate park, and the city passionately supported the project. According to Christine Hanel, Cupertino’s Senior Recreation Supervisor, Cupertino had a skate park committee, which was made up of city staff, a councilman and teenagers from the community that wanted a skate park. The city had funding for the park and had even hired an architect. But there was one problem: finding a suitable place to build it. Since there were no vacant city-owned lots, the city had to look at existing city parks to build the skate park.

Finding physically suitable places was not the biggest challenge; getting the neighbors to agree with the plan was.

“We had to try to identify parks that maybe were kind of quieter parks or that have the space to accommodate a skate park,” Hanel said. “Then, once we identified those few parks, to be honest with you, the community was really in an uproar over it.”

The Backlash

Junior Greg Ellis, a passionate skateboarder, believes that those who don’t skateboard often ignorantly assume that skateboarders “smoke pot” or “vandalize property.”

Hanel said that some people believed a skate park would invite certain disturbances.

“There could be loud music, there could be graffiti, there could be profanity, there could be smoking,” Hanel said, “so a lot of the activities that sometimes accompany skateboarding, neighbors were very concerned about.”

With these preconceived notions in mind, neighbors of potential skate park locations began to protest. When city money is used for large projects like building a skate park, the city is required to host public meetings for anyone to attend and voice their thoughts.

“The people began attending the parks and recreation commission meetings, they began attending council meetings,” Hanel said. “We even had a specific neighborhood meeting that was specifically for that topic of the skate park, and lots and lots of people came out, and most of them were against the skate park.”

A Call to Action

The skate park wasn’t going to happen. Sunnyvale got theirs, Redwood City got theirs, but not Cupertino. However, Cupertino didn’t give up there. Hanel and a colleague looked into the idea of mobile skate parks, which are ramps that can be driven around on trailers. In 2002, the city purchased five ramps, which costed about $40,000, and drove them around on their two city trucks to various parking lots for skateboarders to ride. The problem with that, however, was that the parking lots typically had rough, asphalt surfaces, and the skaters wanted smooth ground. The interest in the mobile ramps died out, the ramps themselves began to wear down, and as a result, they were put away forever.

It’s time that non-skateboarders start to question the stereotypes they have of skateboarders and start to see the benefits of building a city skate park. Hanel noted that in the early 2000s, when the city had a larger skateboarding population, many skateboarders were being ticketed for riding around on city property. A skate park would have given them the legal haven to perform their art without damaging property or receiving outside interference.

“If Cupertino had a skate park, it would change the setting to a more positive, a more active environment,” Ellis said. “It occupies kids to do something and have a good time, and it just establishes a really good environment and community.”

The benefits for a skate park are there, but in recent years, Hanel has observed a decrease in the number of skateboarders in Cupertino. Hanel notes that she no longer sees as many skateboarders around the city, and is unsure whether the activity has grown less popular or if the skateboarders are going elsewhere to skate.

“Meanwhile, the demographics of the community have changed, and I just haven’t seen as much of a need for [a skate park], and it hasn’t come up at all,” Hanel said, “I don’t ever get calls about if we have a skate park. And in the early 2000s, we would get calls.”

While Cupertino’s skateboarding population may have grown smaller over the years, the community should still try to help the few who still love skateboarding and want somewhere to do it. Perhaps one reason skateboarding has died out in Cupertino is because the skate park was never built, and so fewer people were getting into it. While building a skate park now might only satisfy a small number of people, it would eventually draw more people into the sport, and Cupertino may one day see the vibrant skateboarding community it once had.

Newfound Hope

Fortunately, there are upcoming opportunities to revive that skateboarding spirit that skate-enthusiasts should now take. According to Hanel, citizens will have their chances to voice their ideas concerning city parks soon.

“The city of Cupertino currently has begun a park masterplan. Basically, what that means is, the city has hired a consultant to come in and assess our park facilities,” Hanel said. “ And so there are gonna be opportunities for the public to weigh in on the sorts of things that they want to see in their parks. So there’s going to be a lot of public meetings that are gonna be coming up.”

Hanel urges anyone with concerns regarding city parks—not just of skateboarding, but of other activities too—to attend these meetings to voice their thoughts. She recommended Teen and Parks and Recreation commission meetings, as well as City Council meetings. The specific dates and times can be found here.

Cupertino has fought a long battle in pursuit of building a skate park—the city had the funds, the fans, the means—but false assumptions about skateboarding destroyed those plans, those hopes. People must stop fostering a community driven by stereotypes, whether based on gender, race, or participation in skateboarding. If anyone wants to see a skate park be built in Cupertino, now is the perfect time to speak up, to break the harmful misconception.

Click here to check out the print story, Skate of Mind for more on MVHS skateboarders.