Dear The Town of Bound Brook,

     Skateboarding is one of the most popular and fast-growing sports in America. In a 1993 skate park feasibility survey conducted by the city of Phoenix, AZ it was estimated that there were 7,576,000 male and 2,495,000 female skateboarders in the United States. This ranks skateboarding as the sixth-largest participant sport in the US and the third largest for participants ages six through 18. The amazing popularity of skateboarding has placed intense pressure on the dwindling number of places where skating is allowed, causing many people to skate illegally, which often forces them to trespass. It is not surprising that that this behavior gives skaters a bad name among community members. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

     In the interest of both providing skaters a place to skate and keeping local businesses happy, many communities have built public skate parks and most have been incredibly successful. Public skate parks are the best solution to the skateboarding problem. There have been more public skate parks built in the past three years than in the previous 20. Surveys report estimated 50-100 users at any park on any given day. For example, Compare this usage with that of a baseball field which usually goes unused, and even though it is roughly three times the size of an average skate park, can only accommodate 16 players at a time. Clearly, a skate park is a more efficient use of city property, yet almost every community has a baseball field, and so few have skate parks. All we are asking for is a Public (Free admission) STREET skate park in our community. Thanks to everyone that supports this petition. KEEP SKATEBOARDING ALIVE AND SKATERS SAFE IN BOUND BROOK.