Glossary.

Amenities: Restrooms, public transportation, access for emergency vehicles, pay phones, parking, lighting, fencing, water fountains and spectator benches are a minimum checklist for a skatepark facility.

BMX freestyle: BMX, or Bicycle Moto-Cross, refers to freestyle cycling, which emphasizes aerial tricks and stunts. Both inline skating and BMX freestyle bike riding compete with skateboarders for use of skatepark facilities. Park planners need to address this issue in the initial brainstorming sessions for a park: Will the facility be shared with inline skaters and BMX riders? Some parks exclude BMX bikes from skateparks but include adjacent facilities for BMX enthusiasts.

Burnside: Burnside is a skatepark built in the "wasteland" underneath the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Ore. It was built initially without permission and later authorized by the city. It is widely recognized as one of the most perfectly designed skateparks in the world. Tony Hawk's favorite park, Burnside is a design success because of the nearly endless lines and endless potential it provides skateboarders.

Coping: Coping provides the finishing or capping to a concrete edge and is usually made from capped, heavy gauge stainless steel pipe. "Pool coping" constructed of cement blocks is considered the elite coping choice for vertical or near vertical edges.

Corners, hips and boxes: These are transitional elements that allow the skateboarder to maintain motion and speed. Corners and hips have curved surfaces that a skateboarder can climb up and down and with pumping increase momentum. Boxes are platforms placed to land on and drop from for performing tricks and maintaining momentum.

Dead ends: Dead ends result from design flaws that produce pockets without adequate transitional elements, sending a skater into a space from which he can't return, thereby creating safety and flow problems. Also see "ghosts."

Deck space: Adequate deck space consisting of wider, flatter areas is needed for skateboarders to skate past others waiting to enter the park.

Design/build: Design/build firms feature "one-stop" services for both design and construction of skateparks. Often these firms are owned and operated by experienced skateboarder/designers who specialize in designing and building community skateparks.

Eminent domain: Local governments may have the ability to acquire private land for public use. Often sites such as abandoned railroad beds or land under bridges are suitable and available locations for community-development projects such as a skatepark.

Engineering services: Engineering services are a critical first step in determining whether a site is suitable for skatepark construction. Water table height and soil characteristics are examples of factors that influence the feasibility, durability and sustainability of a skatepark.

Flow: Design that allows for non-crossing paths of traffic and spacing of transitional elements, such as ramps, for maximum momentum and safety is known as flow.

Flyaway boards: When a skateboarder falls, inevitably he parts company with his skateboard. When this happens with momentum, boards can sail off and may injure a bystander. Well-placed and well-designed guards protect spectators, pedestrians and other skateboarders.

Flybox, jump box, launch box: These are different terms for a curved launch ramp, flat center box and a flat landing ramp that provide a launching space for performing tricks and reentry.

Gender issues: Polls find that as many as 15 percent of skateboarders are female, and the number is growing as safe, community-sponsored skateparks become increasingly available.

Ghosts: Ghosts are areas in a park that rarely get ridden and are usually the result of design flaws. Also see "dead ends."

Grassroots organizing: Many municipal skateparks have been born out of the collective efforts of local youth skaters petitioning local government. Parents, community groups and city planners can join the effort knowing that the support for the project is strong from those who will use the park. Support for grassroots organizing can be found at Skaters for Portland Skateparks (www.pdxskaters.org).

Grinding: Grinding is a skill developed on street elements and involves "riding" a surface without using the wheels of the skateboard.

Half-pipe: Half-pipes are widened U-shaped ramps flat on bottom with a flat deck at the top.

In-the-ground skatepark: An in-ground facility is constructed of concrete poured over forms creating ledges, steps, multiple levels, bowls, pyramids, and other obstacles and elements. Site excavation is generally required to accommodate these design elements. The result of a well-designed, in-ground facility is an endless variety of beginner to advanced skateboarding options.

Licensed landscape architect/landscape design firm: Professional park design firm that provides architectural design services for skateparks and adjacent landscaping elements. Often landscape architects build a wide variety of residential and municipal projects. Look for experienced skater-designers and specialization in skateparks or partnerships with design/build firms.

Lines: Lines are the paths a skateboarder or inline skater identifies and follows. Similar to a surfer on a breaking wave, the experience of the skateboarder determines her ability to see and navigate lines, and it improves with increasing skill. Design of a high-quality skatepark requires an intimate understanding of lines. Safe parks are the result of thoughtful anticipation of the lines a potential design will create.

Modular or above-the-ground skatepark: A skatepark that is composed of movable or portable skating elements generally includes ramps, pyramids, street elements and, perhaps quarter- and half-pipes, is an above-ground facility. These elements can be constructed from steel, wood or composite materials, and may be prefabricated or built on-site. They're placed on an existing or new sports court surface. In most cases, modular parks are initially less costly than concrete parks, but may face more rapid wear and tear and have a low shelf life owing to design limitations of prefab elements.

NIMBY: "Not in my backyard" is the refrain of naysayers of controversial projects, from shopping malls to cellular towers and, of course, skateparks. Concerns about noise, crowds, "bad elements" and effects on real estate values are among the problems raised. Often fears are unsubstantiated as safe, well-designed community skateparks enhance community life, real estate values, youth activities, fitness and civic pride. Involving skateboard experts and youth skateboarders in town hall meeting forums can assuage anxiety and reduce resistance to these community-development projects. Contacting organizers from successful skateparks in other locations can also relax collective anxiety.

Noise: Often feared as a major impediment to local acceptance of a skatepark project, tests at a Portland skatepark showed that decibel measurements at 100 feet from the park are roughly the equivalent of the sound produced by a conversation. Just like the crowd at a football game, noise at park events, such as demonstrations or competitions, is likely to be a bigger problem than routine noise generated by the use of a skatepark.

Organic design: This describes a well-designed skateboard park that flows with lines.

Park events: Skateboarding clinics, competitions and demonstrations can increase the community value of a skatepark.

Pool bowls: Empty swimming pools are the original skateparks. Street skateboarders long ago discovered the simple beauty and opportunity for vertical movement that a concrete kidney-shaped bowl provided. It's now a central design element in nearly all skateparks.

Proficiency vector: This is the community's learning curve when presented with new challenges in the form of a skatepark. Any given individual or community of skateboarders will progress when exposed to new challenges and skating elements. The proficiency vector should be anticipated so that a park doesn't become outdated as the skills of the skateboarders in the community improve with access to a new facility.

Pump: Skateboarders need speed to perform tricks. On flat ground, speed is achieved with the push of a foot. On a ramp, pumping relies on shifts in the body's center of gravity against centripetal and centrifugal forces. Similar to pumping on a swing, the skateboarder stays low through the bottom of the arc and straightens up during the ascent.

Quarter-pipe: These structural elements are roughly half of a half-pipe and form a gently sloped L-shape.

Site selection: This is one of the most important decisions a skatepark planner will face. Issues that must be considered for success include visibility, proximity to vehicular traffic, and access to youth, parking and other recreational services. Most park users will be younger than driving age and will need to walk, skateboard, bike or use public transportation to get to the park. Many successful skateparks in smaller communities are located in town centers or adjacent to middle schools and high schools.

Size matters: No one ever built a park and then discovered it was too big. It is, however, common for a community to realize that the demand for a high-quality skatepark facility was underestimated, and that the park, built with hard-earned funding, is too small. Parks vary from small, temporary, modular units to more than 91,000 square feet (Millennium Skatepark in Calgary, Canada).

Skateboard experts: As in any discipline, athletic or other, an expert has achieved through thousands of hours of practice with increasingly difficult challenges a high level of skill. In skateboarding, expertise results in an ability to skate "anything," seeing the potential of any spot. This expertise is also essential for the design of parks that function safely and provide a wide array of skateboarding opportunities, from beginner to advanced.

Spine: Spines are formed at the intersection of two ramps and are built for grinding and aerial maneuvers.

Street design/industrial layout: These terms describe parks that are designed to mimic what's found in an urban or industrial setting with street elements such as stairs, rails, planters, benches and curbs.

Supervised vs. unsupervised parks: Liability fears drive the trend toward unsupervised parks, as many local authorities choose skate-at-your-own-risk facilities. However, these parks, if well-designed and well-conceived, can benefit from a sense of ownership and pride on the part of the skateboard community that results in effective self-policing by a cadre of "supervisors." Well-designed facilities ensure a lower risk of injury and suffer less vandalism and vagrancy problems.

Surveys: Elevation and contour surveys are a necessary early step the design process.

Sustainability: All parks will have a certain shelf life; wear and tear and environmental elements will cause deterioration over time. Increasing the sustainability of a skatepark can preserve both community resources and the environment. A well-designed and well-built park can be maintained and will serve the community far into the future.

Transitions: This term, known as "trannies" to skateboarders, describes the transition from horizontal to vertical on a skateboarding surface. Good design respects transitions from the skateboarder's point of view.

Vert ramp: This is a half-pipe that's a minimum of 10 feet or higher and 24 to 36 feet wide. Avert ramp generally has a large radius leading up to one or two feet of vertical riding surface. Having some degree of vertical space is widely considered an essential element in a well-designed park that can accommodate experienced skateboarders as skill levels in the community grow.