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city owned dirt jump parks

corey_rideDC

Turbo Monkey
Sep 1, 2004
1,368
0
DCmetro
i'm collecting info on city/county-owned dirt jump parks to help us out in saving our jumps here in VA. i know there are a bunch out there, what i'm looking for is:

  1. name & location of the park
  2. possibly contact information of someone who was involved (rider or official)
  3. any special builds or rules that had to be followed to get the city to approve
  4. positive or negative things about the park

we have the opportunity to work with IMBA to turn our illegal trails into a legit area. i'm not super-psyched about the turn of events, but it's better than having them plowed. i think if we can present a handful of 'case studies' that other cities have done, we'll have an easier go of getting things approved.

thanks, and wish us luck!
 

black noise

Turbo Monkey
Dec 31, 2004
1,032
0
Santa Cruz
1. Aptos Polo Grounds
2. Jeremy Teman worked on the jumps. His email: jeremy@aptosproductions.com.
3. I know the jumps are kinda kept in check by the city of Aptos, and they had to build jumps of all skill levels. Some select riders have keys to a shed with tools.
4. Negatives: It's not big enough, they gave us a little spot. You can't dig there without someone's approval, so it's less free than an illegal spot.
Positives: It's a fun park with a few different-sized rhythms. Plus its good for the city because it's a whole lot cheaper than a skatepark.
 

corey_rideDC

Turbo Monkey
Sep 1, 2004
1,368
0
DCmetro
thanks guys, that's the perfect kind of info i'm looking for.

black noise said:
Plus its good for the city because it's a whole lot cheaper than a skatepark.
excellent point that i hadn't even thought of... the cost factor of a DJ park is waaaaay lower than, say, a BMX track.
 

haromtnbiker

Turbo Monkey
Oct 3, 2004
1,461
0
Cary, NC
There is Country Park in Greensboro, North Carolina. They got free dirt from the city from a construction site.

All the jumps are tabletops so anybody can ride them, but they still have some pretty big lines and lots of big jumps and berms.

Im not sure who you could contact, but if you post this question in the South forum, I suspect you will get some answers.
 

black noise

Turbo Monkey
Dec 31, 2004
1,032
0
Santa Cruz
corey_dcstreet said:
excellent point that i hadn't even thought of... the cost factor of a DJ park is waaaaay lower than, say, a BMX track.
Exactly. Whereas a skate park is a few hundred thousand $$, the DJ park in Aptos was a few thousand for dirt, a fence, and a shed. The city just dumped dirt and the riders shaped the rest.

edit: Go to the Bay Area forum, there was a thread about a city DJ park in Santa Rosa, Ca a little while back. They have a pretty nice one too, lots of jumps.
 

scratch

Chimp
Jan 1, 2005
99
0
denver, co
z boaz in fort worth, tx.

check out www.cowtownmtb.org for fellas named jim poledna and aubrey williams- they worked with the city and local organizations to keep the jumps alive and well, even growing.

another one is called dunlop- its in development, but the guys at www.dorba.org can get contact info. the city supplied land, dirt, water, and hoses
 

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
greg447 said:
What do you have to do to actually proceede on forcing your city/state on purvchasing materials for a dirt park and constructing one?
First, don't try to force them to do anything. Advocacy is a game of give and take, and it's usually played slowly.
 

SuboptimusPrime

Turbo Monkey
Aug 18, 2005
1,658
1,633
NorCack
It sounds obvious, but you should be sure to point out what is in the deal for the city. When we were petitioning our town for a dj park, we pointed out increased visitation to our town which translates into more dollars spent in our town which means more taxes for the town. Currently the nearest legal jumps are an hour away, meaning we all go there to ride and spend our cash... We also argued that with childhood obesity running rampant (and we presented data to that effect) it is the responsibility of a township to provide as many opportunities for active recreation as possible, not just soccer fields, etc. I should say that we also started an online petition to demonstrate interest from a bunch of people--just get everyone and their dog to sign. Good luck man.
 

PatBranch

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2004
10,451
9
wine country
I think a petition could help a lot. I was one of a few who got a satepark built in La Canada, LA, CA. We went to meetings and did a bunch of stuff and evetually they did it.

During one meeting, some dumb wife and her husband said it would be loud becasue they live down the street. Where the sktepark was build was on an asphalt lot next to school with a baseball field/track w/ another baseball field/track accross the street with tennis courts. They were so stupid, they lived near all that and expected it not to be noisy and then though a skatepark would be louder.

It was build on a small asphault lot. They put a big chain link fence around it. There were few ramps (which were wood/masonite) and you had to wear pads too. But it was something.
 
Aug 22, 2004
979
0
FEAR ME ^
haromtnbiker said:
There is Country Park in Greensboro, North Carolina. They got free dirt from the city from a construction site.

All the jumps are tabletops so anybody can ride them, but they still have some pretty big lines and lots of big jumps and berms.

Im not sure who you could contact, but if you post this question in the South forum, I suspect you will get some answers.
thats a good example, contact merrit at re:cycles, i dont know email etc., but im sure motomike or WKC knows, pm one of them
 

musicman

Chimp
Jul 18, 2004
87
0
redbox/ bouldin creek in austin
city provided dirt after dozing sundays secret trails, he got a petition sighned by naborhood residents. and the city aproved a plan.
theyr pretty sick start off mellow and get big
i would try and contact noodles on the ninth street bmx message board
( www.ninthstreetbmx.com ) or jason sunday.
 

Trailhead

Chimp
Mar 5, 2002
28
0
Sacramento, CA
Not in the US but one of the sickest city-owned jumps
out there. Here's a promotional flash video of the place
(it may take a while to download and you may
swear the page is frozen but have patience, it'll load)

Here's a .pdf brochure.

And here's the website for the West Vancouver Gleneagles
Community Center, with proposals, etc. that should get
you going.
 

dream4est

Monkey
Jan 28, 2003
180
0
wch is right. arbor and sunset rule. but gunbarrel has a line so big it blows your mind.
elliot hoover on the inside line at gunbarrel
 

rockwool

Turbo Monkey
Apr 19, 2004
2,658
0
Filastin
dream4est said:
wch is right. arbor and sunset rule. but gunbarrel has a line so big it blows your mind.
elliot hoover on the inside line at gunbarrel
I bet NORAD got that ufo on their radar and sent some F-15's after it.....


Create a sports club so the politicians can se "on paper" that you organize the youth and keep them away from "drugs and ****".
If the club have members in their 20's and 30's aswell then you can say that it's a good way to close the generation gap, bla bla bla....they love to hear stuff like that.

Here's a link to an assosiation that have some good experiance with different comunity organizations and local politicians http://www.capitalbmx.com/kontakt.html
 

ridetoofast

scarred, broken and drunk
Mar 31, 2002
2,095
5
crashing at a trail near you...
WestCoastHucker said:
Arbor Lake : Arvada Colorado (illest dirt jumps ever, sports side by side 40 packs of steep technical rhythms)


Sunset Park : Dever Colorado

Eaton Park : Gunbarrel Colorado
may your shoes be infested with a lifetime supply of chiggers for posting that pic

im going to be droolin' like an idiot all day long now...thanks a lot

:nuts:
 

dexter

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
3,053
99
Boise, Idaho
god i miss the trails back home arbor, sunset, the v- you guys think those pics are huge check out the v- 15 foot high lips that are vert as all get out. all sorts of lines and crazy step ups and downs, and finally my secret 4 pack that only 2 other people in the world know about- that i know about