The Linda Vista Boys and Girls of Summer

Skaters gotta skate

Did you know the Linda Vista Skateboard Park, located on the grounds of the Linda Vista Recreation Center, is the largest skateboard park in the County?

Did you know the Skateboard Park recently received recognition from the San Diego Architectural Foundation in the form of a much coveted “Orchid” award for exemplifying good placemaking? 

Did you know that our very own Linda Vista Skateboard Park is generally regarded as one of the top skateboard parks in the entire world? 

First opened in January 2018, the Linda Vista Skateboard Park continues to be one of the most popular venues in LV.  

Though some of the normal rhythms of a San Diego summer have been disrupted by COVID-19 (i.e. still waiting on the Padres to start the season), there are other things that just keep rolling on.  For example, during a recent visit, I discovered the current pandemic has not discouraged people from using the LV Skateboard Park. As I observed, skaters were out in force doing what young people usually do during the summer, which means spending time outside, enjoying the great weather, and conducting physical activity.  

On that afternoon, a perfect 73 degree San Diego summer day, I counted approximately thirty skaters and a number of parent/grandparent spectators in the crowd. 

Curiously, I didn’t see any skaters wearing masks.  I guess that shouldn’t have surprised me.  After all, according to one web site that studied skater attitude characteristics, the typical skater supposedly values “creativity, risk, and freedom.”  Based on my observations of skaters taking falls as they maneuvered the ramps that day, major concerns seemed to revolve more around bruises and scrapes than COVID-19.  Accordingly, I asked several skaters the all-important question… “Do you feel safe skating here in light of the COVID-19 situation?”

“I try to maintain separation while I’m skating,” one skater told me. 

“It’s safer here being outside in the fresh air, more safe than being inside,” said another.

A health conscious skater commented, “I try to keep my immune system in good shape by eating well. Hopefully, that will protect me if I get the virus.”

Finally, one more skater said, “I’ve heard of family members of skaters getting COVID, but I don’t know of any skaters getting it.” 

I observed one set of grandparents watching their grandchildren skate. It was comforting to see they were at least wearing masks.    

Before paying my visit to the LV Skateboard Park, I imagined the venue as a giant petri dish  of germs.  Yet, on that same day, the county’s medical officer briefed that 5 new outbreaks occurred in San Diego—these new outbreaks occurring in a restaurant, a health care facility, a gym, a daycare, and a resort/spa. No mention of an outbreak occurring from an outdoor venue.  And definitely no mention of a skateboard park!   Perhaps these skaters are on to something.

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