Written by Jon Mercer in Real Estate
Viewed by 91 readers since 01-04-2009
With more and more homes going into foreclosure, skateboarders are no longer having to take it to the streets or pay to practice their craft at skateboard parks. There are many in-ground pools behind houses across the country that have been abandoned or foreclosed upon during the recent economic crisis.
What once was a symbol of urban success is now just another place for skaters to practice; and with more and more homes in foreclosure, there is no shortage of pools to be skated. Sure the skaters risk trespassing charges if caught, but with only a slap on the wrist they’re soon on their way, looking for another pool to dive into.
One skateboarder quoted by CNN, who asked to remain anonymous, said that he and his friends traveled around with a gas powered pump and a push broom so they could easily drain and skate any worthy pools they find. In as little as fifteen minutes they can be enjoying the best skate turf there is and the fact that it’s illegal just makes it all the more exciting.
“We just hit them back to back”, said the unnamed skater after he did an aerial assault on a vacated pool. Some skater’s come from as far away as Germany and Australia to places like Fresno, California just to skate the endless number of vacant pools.
Some of the skaters are even checking local real estate web sites to find vacant homes with pools to skate in. Others look at aerial photographs on sites like Google Earth to locate the pools. There is even a web site where skateboard enthusiasts can go to seek information on how to find and drain the abandoned pools. At Skateandannoy.com, skaters trade secrets of how and where to get into the pool skating scene. They also share photographs of their conquests.
Some of the skateboarders feel they are actually doing the community a service by draining the abandoned pools; water left in pools too long can become stagnate and a breeding ground for all types of diseases. It is also a favorite breeding ground for mosquitoes, which carry the dreaded West Nile virus.
In places like California, Arizona, and Florida where there are pools galore, the trend of draining and skateboarding pools has risen dramatically. Officials estimate in the Sacramento County, California alone, there are as many as five thousand abandoned pools. And in the state of California there are tens of thousands of pools that have been left abandoned. Good for the skateboarders — not so good for the homeowners.
