"He points to what happened with skateboarding in the downtown core. Edges on railings have been clipped with stoppers and blocks put out to prevent skateboarding."

thank gawd 'cause the littel moronic scofflaws were destroyng public fountains, rails, seats etc and all sorts of private property as well.

Arrest the little bastards and make them pay for the damages they have caused.

As for people climbing buildings, life is boring n'est pas ??

And this is a bad thing because...? Skateboarding on rails and benches in the crowded downtown is a public safety hazard and damages public and private property that has to be repaired (and it's not cheap) using taxpayer or owner dollars better spent elsewhere. If you don't like it, go and build your own skate park or use one of the public skate parkes available to you. Don't whine that you're being "deprived of your rights".

I'm so sick of hearing the whining about people who think that because their sport is "cool" they are somehow entitled to ignore the rules that apply to everyone else. If the university doesn't want you climbing on the buildings, here's a novel idea: go climb on your own building or a friend's building where you have permission, or find a rock face. Bitching about how the university "doesn't understand" or is somehow being unreasonable makes you sound like a spoiled five-year old who isn't getting their way.

I've started a new "secret" sport: workering, where over-educated bourgeois indolents covertly take-on blue-collar jobs. Don't tell anyone.

what rhea said.

Way to miss the point entirely, all you working stiffs. Nobody's saying skaters have a 'right' to skate downtown. The appeal in street skating is using boring concrete wastelands in a new, unintended way: to have fun. Downtowns are becoming more and more like malls, sanitized 'public' spaces designed to ensure no activity takes place except shopping, with uniformed mustachioed billy-club wielding law enforcers urging you on your way the moment you sit down without visible signs of recent consumerism.

Capped rails suck, but they're inevitable, and that's why Vancouver has more skateparks than anywhere in NA.

Whose whining? It seems to me that builderers are actually doing something creative and fun in an attempt to enjoy their life.

These comments reek of bitterness and jealousy. Not everyone has to be a drone, but thanks for taking one for the team.

Actually, isn't buildering kind of boring...the sort of thing one does when there simply isn't time to leave campus? We used to do this on the wall of the Commons Dining Room at UVIC--nice stone and masonry--however since that only extended about 10 feet up, we'd traverse sideways for 80 yards or so, never more than 5 or 6 feet off the ground.

But seriously, isn't this what climbing walls are for? And isn't it a lot more rewarding to end one's climb on a crag or peak, instead of a tar-and-gravel roof? Not to mention the possibility of having to downclimb....

Oh, OK. Then I'm sure you won't object if I gallop my horse on your lawn. I mean, come on - it's using boring suburban space for a new, unintended purpose! And who cares if you have to shovel the crap and re-sod to fix the damage - you just don't appreciate people who know how to have fun!

So what's wrong with the skate parks?

I hate to break it to you, but I used to do building hacking at SFU. Until I grew up a bit and realized that trespassing and property damage (lock breaking) isn't cute or cool. Riding rails and benches wears the hell out of them, and costs taxpayer money to fix. If it didn't cause so much damage, and if the skaters actually took public safety into account (I've seen people do ollies off the rail in the middle of a crowd in the Terminal City Club Plaza and just missing the pedestrians), maybe you wouldn't have this problem of people spoiling your fun.

If you can't figure out why certain actions have consequences, honey, I suggest you go back to grade school. You obviously missed the lesson on personal responsibility.

Nothing's wrong with lots of parks, that's my point: skaters are NOT bitching and whining about capped rails (much), they're raising money and building parks.

A few idiots ollieing into crowds doesn't represent everyone who skateboards.

If I ever find myself in the unlikely position of owning a suburban lawn I'll be better positioned to comment on the comparison of scuffed-up handrails to mangled and shit-covered yards, but for now I think everyone in the above story is demonstrating enough personal responsibility: they know they might get hurt. They do it anyways.

Skateboarders are a nuisance. It was cool in the 70's...give it a rest. Its not like you guys are doing anything original. Its the equivalent to roller skating without the belly shirts and leg warmers. As for the "culture" most of these kids come from suburban BC but are adopting someone ELSE's culture (California surfer/skater). It would be like me playing soccer so living, looking, eating, speaking like a Brazilian street kid.

I admire skateboarders. It is damn difficult to learn. I have been trying off and on (mostly off, on my butt) for years and years. These people are athletes. You can't do it when you're stoned and you can't do it if you are lazy.

Buildering sounds a lot like parkour, which is basically skateboarding without skateboards. I admire the hell out of them too for the same reasons.

It sounds kind of dangerous but it is more about being slightly naughty and adventurous. When I was at SFU I used to love to poke around and explore the dungeon levels and to get up on top of the concourse roof and all that. I never risked my life, only a stern warning and the occasional chase by security. It is a good thing! Kids having fun!

As a pedestrian, I've had more near-misses from cyclists riding hell-bent-for-election on the sidewalks than with skateboarders. In fact, I don't recall ever having a safety problem with boarders (public space damage I can't speak to), but many cyclists seem to think that riding at high speeds on the sidewalk is their right (as well as disobeying street signs while on roads). Perhaps because it is more middle class acceptable to ride bicycles, there are fewer people who frown on their anti-social behaviour; easier to complain about skateboards because it's a subculture perhaps? And no, I'm not a skateboarder - just a boring middle class worker who thinks there's too much flack given to those who love to board.

Although the thought of buildering scares the wits out of me, I do recall at SFU climbing out a window on the 7th floor of the library (used to be the criminology department) and sitting on the slanted ledge. This was fine over the concourse mall roof because it felt safer because there was something under me (what a view let me tell you!), but when I did it on the north side with nothing below but grass and concrete, I scared myself silly and never ventured out again. I thought to myself, "that would be a really stupid and embarassing way to die."

Taxcutter, your analysis of skater culture is about .5" deep. What a surprise!

That culture was forged during the skateboarding revival of the late 70s and early 80s. It was a Pan-West-Coast phenomenon, which included people traveling up and down the coast btw Vancouver and LA to attend events, or to skate particular pools, ramps, parks, parkades, etc.

The subculture burgeoned in parallel with the West-Coast Punk/Indie/Alternative scene, (indeed it was a sub-subculture of that). Many road trips were taken not just for the purpose of skating, but also to attend gigs at clubs, in halls, or in basements up and down the coast.

Your assertion that it was a California phenomenon ignores the fact that fashions, innovations and other trappings of the subculture proliferated in all directions. You only need to look at the clothing worn by members of the so-called Grunge movement in Seattle to see that. There was a dress and style associated with this West-Coast subculture which evolved in the skating and music scenes, and which continued to evolve right into the nineties, when it entered the cultural mainstream.

Latter-day skaters have inherited this subculture, regardless of where they're from, and local skaters are no more or less poseurs than skaters from California are....

As a builderer proud to claim a few structures in Vancoucou in the early eighties: City Hall (too easy), Fisheries/Customs on Pender in those days, and the old Blue Horizon in New West (can't tell you even the decade 'cause the five cops who responded might still be looking for me up there) I should tell what I know of any reason for this activity.

For me it was great to be up high in a sleeping city (I only climbed at night) I had no design on the occupants of the building nor any particular interest in them. They, however, took immediate interest in me as I passed on the way up. In those days the roof-top exit was generally open or only locked from the inside so I simply went through and down the elevator and out through the lobby. Don't try this at home: City police arrived as I walked out of the elevator.
Never caught (yet) though a couple of security guards might twig if they read Tyee comments.

I moved to an area where the tallest thing to climb is the fir by the house.

Cities make people act strangely.
I'm feeling much better now

Man,

What a bunch of lame up-tight people. Yes, people climbing on buildings is not what they were designed for, and the kids need to accept liability when they bail.

However, I can't believe how many people are complaining about this and skateboarding as some horrid act. To me, the horrid act is to build cities where the only purpose of all the public places is to dash from your home to work, and back again. Come on, our culture has more public life than that.

So to all the skaters and builderers, all I say is shine on you crazy diamonds. Watch out for pigs, try not to damage anything, and don't forget it is all your fault if you get hurt. So don't be stupid, but don't stop finding new ways to have fun.

ya, arrest those little skateboard punks, it would cost way less in tax dollars to police rails and fountains 24/7 then to replace then now and again... skateboards at 3 am are annoying for sure, but give me a break.

...buildering... boring... right... climbing a nearly featurless wall with no protection and big consequences, after divining a strategically planned but difficult route... sounds closer to the exciting end of things to me...

and to y'all complaining about cyclists, sure if you have to ride on the sidewalk(you sometimes have no choice), ride slow... but hey, keep in mind that the only way a cyclist can be noticed by the majority of the car-drivin' lunatics out there is to run stop signs, cut cars off, and take the lane! (no matter how much glitter you stick on the bike and cyclist). SO next you get cut of, remember, it is all about bicycle safety!....non-official driver training to get folks used to seeing bikes on the road!

Absolutely brilliant Adam. Could I please, please employ you to write for buildering.net? Although I’m sure that your “over-educated bourgeois indolents” descriptor was intended for the likes of myself, I must take exception with the “over-educated” part, as I did have to look up the definition of indolents, and am still unsure of it’s usage as a noun. Kudos to you my man.

As for the rest of you, there isn’t a lot I can say that hasn’t already been said, however I will say one thing: I’m not here to defend myself or what I do, nor do I really care what you think – although I must say that every “littel [sic] moronic scofflaws” and “public safety hazard” comment does make me feel much better about myself, as it reminds me of who I’m NOT. Does that mean I think I’m superior to everyone else? Most definitely - although solely on the fact that apparently I’m one of the few people in here who can laugh at himself.

And when that day comes when I fall and I suddenly join the ranks of other famous two-dimensional beings, you can be as sure as hell that I’ll be suing Freebear.

-ardarvin

PS: Oh and Rhea, feel free to bring your horse by my house in Marpole. Just let me know beforehand so I can bust out the beers and sugar-cubes. We could use a little more life in the NEIGHborhood. Get it…neigh? Hello? Is this mic on?

I don't think that anyone really cares about skateboarding, or seriously sees it as a distinct "culture", other than skaters themselves. Even they eventually grow up or cripple themselves sufficiently to move on to more sedentary endevours. It takes an extrordinary amount of skill to do well, it's fun and fun to watch, but so what? At the end of the day you are rolling around on a glorified scrap of fibreglass thinking you belong to a "sub culture". Real deep. And Cosmo, "watch out for pigs"? Funny how the police are the first to be scorned until you need them.
As for personal responsibility, who foots the bill when one of these idiots injures himself or someone else? I'm sure that falling off of the occasional building or flying down a flight of concrete stairs racks up the medical bills for the taxpayer. That's right, tax payer. You know, people who have jobs and fork it over to the government to pay for the broken collar bones and vandalised public spaces. It's great to have fun on someone else's dime. Nice "culture".

Hmmm...sounds like someone is scared of her perfect little world being challenged by a rather large demographic of people who have different ideals than her own.

How else could someone formulate the ludicrous argument that an activity that is practiced by hundreds of millions of people throughout the world, and has captured the imagination of youth and major media for the last 30 years, is not in fact a culture.

Oh and Yve, be careful that you don't trip and fall down the stairs next time you gather your frail old body together for bridge night (I know you are old since skateboards haven't been made out of fibreglass [sic] since the 60s). I wouldn't want the highly coordinated and physically fit skateboarding demographic to have to pay for your sorry ol' ass.