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The Skatepark Adoption Model is a simple formula for
determining how much skatepark a community needs. You will learn how to find
out how many people are in your community, how many of those people are
skateboarders, how much terrain those skateboarders require, and some different
ways of distributing that terrain to best serve the needs of the community.
The process is very simple. The statistics used in the Skatepark
Adoption Model are pulled from U.S. research data and may be less accurate for
other countries. The end result will be a skatepark recommendation tailored for your community.
1. Define Your Target Area
The area that you want to analyse is your target area. It
might be a suburb, city, zip code, or metropolitan area. The formula is the
same regardless of the size. It is better to choose a target area that is well
defined rather than an area that is sometimes vague like a business district or
a neighborhood.
Example: Reno, Nevada
For this first step you’ll want to make sure that your
target area is clearly defined then head over to the U.S. Census (http://www.census.gov/) or
the agency that tracks population in your country. At the U.S. Census website
you’ll see a box on the right for finding the population of an area. The last
census estimate was in 2006 but those numbers will be close enough for the
Skatepark Adoption Model.
Write down the total population of your target area.
Example: Reno, Nevada
The population of Reno, Nevada, is 210,000 people.
2. Apply the Skateboarder Percentage
According to 2000 market research analysis there were 12.9
million skateboarders in the United States. At that time there were 281.4-million
people in the country. That means that 4.6% of the population in the United
States are skateboarders. This reflects all of the casual skateboarders who
ride once a month or less. Frequent skaters comprise about 25% of this group.
Take your target area’s population and multiply it by 4.6%,
(.046), to get an estimate of how many skateboarders are in your target area.
There are nearly 10,000 skaters in Reno. Of those, one-quarter of them skate frequently.
You can find out how many of those skateboarders are regular
riders by multiplying the total number of skaters by 25%, or .25. This level of detail is not required when determining your total skatepark need; it simply adds a degree of information that may be useful when talking about the composition of the local skateboarding community.
210,000 X .046 = 9,960
There are 9,960 total skateboarders in Reno, Nevada.
9,960 X .25 = 2,415
Of the 9,960 skateboarders in Reno, 2,415 of them are ride a skateboard on a frequent,
regular basis. In other words there are 2,415 regular skaters and 7,545
occasional skaters in the town.
3. Determine the Needed Terrain
Each skateboader in the target area requires about 1.5 square
feet of terrain. While this certainly doesn’t hold true in very small samples,
(six skaters cannot possibly enjoy themselves on a 3 by 3-foot square for very
long), it is a reasonable measure for communities with more than 200 skaters.
This measure also does not address the character of that
terrain. The best skateboarding terrain is diverse and provides opportunity for
a variety of tastes and skill levels. This step in the Skatepark Adoption Model
is useful only for establishing a total amount of terrain…not the terrain
style.
Multiply your total number of skaters by 1.5 to determine
how much skateboarding terrain your community requires. The result can be
rounded up or down to the nearest 100. This is the total skateboarding terrain
need for your target area.
Reno skateboarders need 15,000 square feet of skateboarding terrain.
The 1.5 square foot factor takes into
consideration the number of skaters in a community likely to be skating
simultaneously at peak periods during a week. Special conditions may
produce more terrain need than the 1.5 factor delivers. For example, a
community's skateparks will likely be over capacity on the first sunny
day after a streak of bad weather.
9,960 X 1.5 = 14,940 (rounded up to 15,000)
Reno needs 15,000 square feet of skateboarding terrain.
4. Distribute the Terrain
Larger communities will clearly have a greater skatepark need. In large metropolitan areas, the Skatepark Adoption Model may result in a preposterously huge skatepark. It’s important to
remember that this is the TOTAL amount of terrain that can be distributed
across several skateparks.
The nation's largest skateparks today are about 40,000 square feet. The smallest skateparks are single structures. A community's skatepark needs can be met using a combination of different sizes of skatepark. While it may be more expedient to develop a single large facility, skateparks distributed across the target area will better serve the local skateboarding community. If your recommended terrain is 10,000 or larger you may consider distributing that total footage across more than one site in your target area.
Distributing the total desired footage across a number of parks will provide greater community access.
If your recommended terrain was less than 8,000 square feet no distribution is necessary. A single facility should meet the target area's needs provided it is centrally located. Your Skatepark Adoption Model exercise is complete.
Reno's 15,000 can be distributed among three sites.
5. Scale the Skateparks
The total amount of skatepark terrain should generally be divided by the number of neighborhoods in the target area. There are many different ways of detailing these skateparks to maximize their success. It's valuable to consider the factors that may influence your skatepark character. Geographical features—rivers and steep grades—as well as man-made structures—freeways and business or industrial districts—can act as dividers within a community. These dividers are the separators between neighborhoods. An awareness about the composition of the target area is helpful.
It's valuable to have one of those sites act as a flagship for the ensemble of smaller facilities. The flagship will act as the centerpiece to the skatepark system while the smaller parks have a supporting role. The smaller parks serve users with greater constraints on their time or mobility while the larger park captures those users seeking a full skatepark experience. These larger parks often have a regional draw and are logically referred to as regional skateparks. These parks are usually 20,000 square feet or larger and feature a full accoutrement of terrain styles, one or more unique terrain features not found anywhere else in the area, and the site amenities that exand the ways that the skatepark can be used such as bleacher seating, lights, restrooms, and so on.
Residential neighborhoods will be better served by smaller skatepark designs that emphasize social inclusiveness. The fences and security cameras that are often found at larger skateparks may seem out of place in a quiet neighborhood. However, a smaller skatepark designed for less than 30 simultaneous users will fit easily anywhere without disrupting the area. These smallest parks are known as skate spots. Skate spots do not feature any of the site amenities found at regional parks (except for maybe a park bench, water fountain, and a trash can).
The largest parks are known as regional skateparks and the smallest are called skate spots. The "medium-sized" park between these extremes is known as neighborhood skateparks. Neighborhood skateparks can be anywhere between 8,000 to 18,000 square feet. Neighborhood skateparks should feature a variety of terrain styles and cater to different skill levels.
The distribution of skateparks can be tailored to meet community expectations and address geographical characteristics.
Neighborhood skateparks should be adjacent to other community attractions such as playgrounds, ball fields, and retail shopping districts. The nation's most successful neighborhood skateparks are positioned in areas that serve other community needs and enjoy the benefits of pedestrian traffic and social contact with non-skaters.
Reno's three skateboarding facilities will be scaled so that one will be the "main" skatepark (10,000 square feet) located near downtown. Two smaller skate spots will provide skateboarding access in residential areas.
6 . Wrap It Up
That should conclude your Skatepark Adoption Model experience. You should now have a recommendation for a skatepark or skatepark system that should adquately serve your community for many years. You may compile the recommendation into a presentation that can be used with your neighbors, community and city councils, parks agencies, and other interested parties.
Your skatepark recommendation cites statistics from the United States Census Bureau, Board-Trac market research studies, and your own observational data.
Continue the discussion about the Skatepark Adoption Model in our Vision forum !
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