{"id":1052,"date":"2012-07-29T18:19:52","date_gmt":"2012-07-30T01:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hotpepper.ca\/?p=1052"},"modified":"2020-04-03T13:55:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T19:55:45","slug":"lethbridge-skateboarders-face-prejudice-and-stereotypes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2012\/07\/29\/lethbridge-skateboarders-face-prejudice-and-stereotypes\/","title":{"rendered":"Lethbridge skateboarders face prejudice and stereotypes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I sent a condensed version of the following letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald. They published it today, but did not include it on their website.<\/p>\n

I have been following for the last two years with interest the process\u00a0the Lethbridge Skateboard Association has had to endure in order to\u00a0get a new skatepark. The organization, of which I am not a member, had\u00a0seen at the beginning difficulties and frustration trying to work with\u00a0the city. After city administration finally realized the feasibility,\u00a0practicality, and necessity of a new skatepark in the city, the\u00a0process became more collaborative.<\/p>\n

Public perception, unsurprisingly, is still based on ignorance and\u00a0opposition to the skatepark remains high. One need only read through\u00a0the submissions to the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board<\/a>\u00a0regarding the development permit to see how uninformed and ignorant\u00a0citizens of the city are regarding the skatepark specifically and\u00a0skateboarders generally.<\/p>\n

Racism and poor grammar aside, the letters are filled with\u00a0inaccuracies, stereotypes, and assumptions.<\/p>\n

First of all, the closest author lives 700 metres away from the park.\u00a0This is roughly the equivalent of 7 football field lengths. As a\u00a0resident of London Road, I live approximately 700 metres from Park\u00a0Place, and most people would think it unreasonable for me to complain\u00a0about how Park Place affects me when it is 6 blocks away from my\u00a0house.<\/p>\n

Second, to imply that skateboarders are vandals and criminals is\u00a0completely unfair and grossly irresponsible. The current president of\u00a0the Lethbridge Skateboard Association is a respected structural\u00a0engineer, a churchgoer, a husband, and the father of a young family.\u00a0The members of the Lethbridge Skateboard Association were forced to\u00a0raise two-thirds of the funding required to build the skatepark. These\u00a0adults and young people have worked hard holding bottle drives, art\u00a0auctions, and partnering with local businesses to host fundraising\u00a0events. Through their own determination, hard work, and cooperation,\u00a0they have managed to raise over $250,000 on their own. This is not\u00a0what criminals do.<\/p>\n

Third, the skatepark will not debauch the beauty of Henderson Park.\u00a0The existing trees at the proposed location will remain, and while\u00a0some of the grass will disappear, developer will plant greenery to\u00a0make up for it. In addition, those opposing the skatepark because they\u00a0assume it will be ugly have obviously never seen any prominent, new\u00a0skateparks and lack an understanding of architecture and built\u00a0environment.<\/p>\n

Fourth, arguing about lack of parking is moot. Skateboards are a mode\u00a0of transportation; skateboarders don\u2019t need to park their skateboards\u00a0when they arrive. Same goes for the argument that it will affect\u00a0traffic congestion. In addition, the proposed location, despite\u00a0argument from one of the letters, is serviced well by transit, with\u00a0the 21, 23, and 24 routes stopping no more than a block away, and the\u00a020 is only 2 blocks away.<\/p>\n

These letters are from people who live too far away from the proposed\u00a0location to be affected by a skatepark and who exhibit a complete lack\u00a0of respect for the youth in this city. For shame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I sent a condensed version of the following letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald. They published it today, but did not include it on their website. I have been following for the last two years with interest the process\u00a0the Lethbridge Skateboard Association has had to endure in order to\u00a0get a new skatepark. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-1052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lethbridge","tag-lethbridge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4NkW7-gY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4193,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/02\/25\/the-extensive-consultations-of-the-scs-a-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":0},"title":"The extensive consultations of the SCS: a history","author":"Kim Siever","date":"25 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don\u2019t understand how opponents of the supervised consumption site can say there wasn\u2019t enough consultation prior to the it opening.","rel":"","context":"In "SCS"","block_context":{"text":"SCS","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/scs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/833689470_80420cd11a_o.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4280,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/03\/18\/lethbridge-is-not-a-mormon-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":1},"title":"Lethbridge is not a Mormon town","author":"Kim Siever","date":"18 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In fact, there are roughly 400% more non-religious people in Lethbridge than there are Mormons.","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/240798_406789556048013_819195730_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/240798_406789556048013_819195730_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/240798_406789556048013_819195730_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/240798_406789556048013_819195730_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/240798_406789556048013_819195730_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":609,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2009\/06\/27\/lethbridge-reaches-85000\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":2},"title":"Lethbridge reaches 85,000","author":"Kim Siever","date":"27 June 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This April, the City of Lethbridge conducted it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual census. Yesterday, they published the results. Here is a summary: The new population as of April was 85,492.\u00c2\u00a0At 30,489, the Westside now has the most people of the three areas. Growth for the city over 2008 was 1.8%.\u00c2\u00a0The Westside growth rate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tower","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2572\/3661967220_2ee8fcccf3_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":205,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2007\/06\/29\/lethbridge-growth-management-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":3},"title":"Lethbridge Growth Management Review","author":"Kim Siever","date":"29 June 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Apparently the City of Lethbridge requested public comments regarding their Growth Management review. I missed it, so I sent the following letter to Tom Wickersham, who was acting mayor at the time. Dear Mr. Wickersham, I apologise for the lateness of me message. I heard about the request for comments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1043,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2012\/05\/27\/i-love-the-urbanity-of-lethbridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":4},"title":"I love the urbanity of Lethbridge","author":"Kim Siever","date":"27 May 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the last few weeks, I\u2019ve had several discussions with others about whether Lethbridge is urban. Actually, discussion might be pushing it since most of the conversation was me pointing out logically (using actual definitions) on how Lethbridge qualifies as urban and most responses opposing my point based on subjective\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":193,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2007\/01\/30\/rising-property-values-in-lethbridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":1052,"position":5},"title":"Rising property values in Lethbridge","author":"Kim Siever","date":"30 January 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In this morning's issue of the Lethbridge Herald: . . . the typical Lethbridge home\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s value [will] rise nearly $25,000 over the year . . . pushing the average resale price to $210,000 by year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s end. Yet another reason to build high-density downtown. In fact, Due to investors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 reluctance to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4466,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions\/4466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}