skateboard laneI’ve been seeing some buzz about The University of California, Santa Barbara “installing” a skateboard lane on campus. Two skateboarders (I have a feeling they’re really longboarders) raised $7,500 that the campus matched, and somehow spent a whopping $12,500 was spent “creating” (painting) the lanes.

It might seem like a good idea if you don’t actually think about it, but if you take a second to think you’ll realize that they are recognizing skateboarding but not in a positive way. One element of skateboarding is the freedom from barriers, and this is only putting up walls. If you’ve ever been in a small city that just got a skatepark, you might understand the effect this will have on cops’ attitude.

With the implementation of the lane, skateboarders must now abide by it at all times and stay clear of the pedestrian pathways beside it.

If I was a student there I’d be pretty pissed at the skaters that came up with this. Yes, there’s a possibility skateboarding would end up banned if this hadn’t happened, but in a sense they’ve already banned the spirit of it.

The news article seems a bit unclear, but it sounds like the much more dangerous bike population doesn’t have to stick to a restrictive lane. It doesn’t seem like this is about safety or accommodating skaters, but instead it seems like just another way to restrict skateboarding. Oh yeah, and they’re so optimistic they’ve even reserved $2,500 in case they decide to get rid of it.

What are your thoughts?