Myrtle Meeting Recap

myrtle_0108Thanks to everyone who came out last night to support skateparks in West Seattle.

The West Seattle Blog posted a really solid re-cap this morning.

(update: make sure to check out the comments section…)

In many ways it was a very typical skatepark meeting. The nasty factor was a lot lower than it was in the first meeting, but the crowd was surprisingly rude to the Parks Department people and the landscape architect. Even though it felt that skatepark advocates had successfully shifted the conversation away from below-the-belt skateboarder character assassination shenanigans that dominated the last meeting, there were still some gross and unfair generalizations being made about skateboarders.

As WSB reported, one neighbor tried to make a connection between some vandalism at a memorial for fallen police officers in Olympia, and use that as proof that all skateboarders are unsavory. It was the kind of extrapolation that makes absolutely no sense. It’s like saying, “I saw a guy in a red shirt eat a banana once, so therefore all guys in red shirts must really love bananas.” For some reason people think it’s acceptable to make illogical connections between an isolated incident and an entire group of people, in an effort to defame them.

I felt like I was Kevin Bacon in the movie Footloose, and people hated me for dancing.

A woman accused me of being incendiary and disingenuous by posting the excerpts of Dr. John Carr’s research regarding the email sent to Seattle Parks regarding the proposed Myrtle skatespot. She refuted Dr. Carr’s claims that there was a socioeconomic bias encoded in the “put it over at High Point” feedback, and actually denied that anyone had ever referred to skateboarders as criminals or degenerates. I wasn’t entirely sure what to say since it’s not my research, I was at the first meeting and heard the comments with my own ears, and I have the email as proof.

Ultimately, I think the skateboarders came off sounding a bit defensive, but how are we supposed to feel when someone suggests that you are somehow connected to the desecration of a monument for fallen police officers? Ultimately, I think we all want to move past this counterproductive part of the discussion and I was happy to see the conversation (mostly) shift away from the High Point and skater defamation diversions.

There was a strong pro-skatepark representation at last night’s meeting, and it wasn’t just skateboarders supporting the skatepark concept. Several people seemed to actually be coming to their own conclusions about the idea of a skatepark in their neighborhood being an amenity rather than a scourge.

Valid concerns were raised regarding the effects of putting even more concrete into public spaces. It will be really great to attend a design meeting someday and show folks how far skateparks have come in terms of integrating green space and art. However, we need to address the lack of duality in these discussions: as if skateboarders are somehow advocating against green spaces because they want a place to skate. These goals are not mutually exclusive, yet for some reason in these public forums people have a hard time holding two ideas in their heads at the same time. How about a green skatepark?

Even though it was still a bit contentious, this meeting felt mostly productive and gave neighbors with a diversity of opinions to exchange ideas respectfully. Having been to many public skatepark meetings in Seattle over the course of the last 5 years, West Seattle has always been the community that comes together around issues like this and sets a wonderful example for the rest of the city (Northgate I’m looking at you!).

One Reply to “Myrtle Meeting Recap”

  1. I’m with you Matt. I’m banking on West Seattle, and the Morgan/High Point community in particular, to set a great example of an integrated and all-ages neighborhood park and gathering space which coincidentally has some of the finest views of the city and Cascades in the area. We came together over the Orchard Street Ravine through-trail and there and we are coming together with the Morgan Junction Plaza Park so I’m confident we’ll come together with the Myrtle Reservoir Park. Thanks to everyone for being much more civil to each other and thanks to the design team for creating a pretty decent first concept.

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