Just got back from a really good trip to San Francisco. Skate-wise, SF has a special place in any skaters heart. It was important in the late 80’s and turned into a full-blown mecca in the 90’s with the brick-laden Embacadero being the spot where most of the new shit was going down. FTC played a big part in solidifying SF’s spot on the map with their first two videos, Finally and Penal Code. Union Square was an epic spot as well; that got shut down. And then, of course, came Pier 7. That was a kind of EMB part two. But, I think its safe to say that after the Pier got shut down, the scene changed a little in SF, probably for the worst. An evil little invention known as the Skate Stopper® sealed the deal. I saw more spots in one week in SF than I can remember on this trip, and I’d say that 90% of them were skate stopped. Ledges, walls, sidewalks, whatever. If kids were skating on it, there was a skate stopper designed to prevent that activity. This seemingly simple and harmless invention really changed the act of street skating forever. Now cities skate stop everything and give the kids a skatepark to go to. But its just not the same. A skatepark isn’t really street skating, there is no sense of discovery and exploration. As we were skating down the street, Benny said, “Someday we will tell our kids about the days before skate stoppers.” Sad but true.
Posted by Geezer on December 12, 2008 at 12:29 PM
