It's been awhile since my last post. The new year was busy and I got pretty sick. But feeling better now, and new ideas are kind of backed up in my head, so here we go:
First order of business, kids are supposed to be able to have fun, right? That's what being a kid means, having fun while learning about yourself and the world. When kids' rights to have fun are threatened, then something has gone very wrong.
Things have gone wrong in Gresham, a suburb of Portland. The mayor and the stodgy, stuffy, fossilized old white men of the Gresham city council are doing their best to kill fun for kids in Gresham. They have made it a crime to ride a bmx bike in the city's only skate park.
If you've never been to Gresham, let me tell you something important about the town, as I spent part of my own childhood growing up there: even on a good day, there isn't a whole lot for kids to do. Despite this fact, city "leaders" have decided that banning bmx'ers and spending already-spread-way-too-thin police resources on citations, bike confiscations, and the general harassment of minors is somehow a sensible way to burn taxpayer dollars.
They say bikes are dangerous, they say skaters and bikers can't get along, they say bmx is a public nuissance. Blah, blah.... blah.
Gresham is among the only cities in Oregon that do not allow bmx and skaters to ride together. From other smaller parks like Tualatin and Oregon City to the professional training grounds (and largest indoor skate park in the state) at Windell's in Welches, all manor of riders are able to coexist in peace. Not to say there aren't problems sometimes, but as any athlete knows all sports have some tension and in general folks figure out ways to make things work for everyone - think skier/snowboarder on the mountain or longboard/shortboard in the waves. At Windell's, word is that older riders and skaters actually help and assist younger members to learn the ropes and get along.
Imagine that - kids solving their own problems when air-headed adults get out of the way long enough to give 'em a chance.
So what happened in Gresham? Well, the kids and their parents organized and fought back. On December 17 they staged their first peaceful protest at the park - see amazing pictures here. More at the group's main facebook page here.
An online petition was started after one well-intentioned parent was veritably cussed out of the mayor's office for trying to discuss sharing the park.
Sign the petition!
Not long after this incident Occupy Gresham and the PDX Bike Swarm got word of the struggle to legalize fun, and in support of the BMX riders all three groups held a demonstration for over 4 hours in a snowstorm on January 15th. After which all parties retired to eat pizza at the nearby Wall Street Pizza. And what do you know, the Mayor finally sent one of his city managers to come chat.
Check out the video of the day's events, including the discussion with the manager afterwards.
While some progress has been made, the Gresham skate park remains closed to BMX bikes. The brave riders are not deterred, however, and come Spring I think we can count on a lot more action at the park.
In the meantime, sign the petition and keep an eye out for future events!
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