The 10 Best Cities For Skateboarding in the World
Much of what attracts people to skateboarding is how exploratory the act of it is. Dropping your board down in a new place is experiential and taps into the spirit of true adventure. Along with sessioning a spot, the whole process of scouring the streets, hoping to be the first to find something new, meeting people, and even posting up for a bite, is all part of the journey.
Rolling around a newly constructed public park or dodging a security guard for one hit on a sacred spot both provide a different thrill, and the cities that have the most opportunities become legendary. With skating becoming more global, it’s not just focused on the United States or even California anymore, but with possibilities lurking around the globe. New ground is being brought to light daily, but here are 10 cities that stand out from all the destinations worldwide.
Ordos
Starting with the newest skate mecca to emerge, Ordos is a relative ghost town in Inner Mongolia, China, which popped up on many people’s radars when filmmaker Charles Lanceplaine released a mesmerizing clip documenting a small crew ripping the city’s epic architecture. The entire downtown looks like a sculpture built for skating with sprawling transitions and smooth ground everywhere. Unfortunately for the city, economic conditions left it overdeveloped and under-populated, but what it has created is a majestic virtual skatepark.
Boston
With unique architecture packed into a relatively small area, locals always knew Boston as the most skateable city in New England, but it wasn’t until the late ‘90s when it truly became a go-to destination. Boston’s rise began in the early ‘90s when the then perfect ledges at Copley Square became the designated meet-up spot. Anchored by Aquarium, Eggs and the city’s constantly evolving landscape, there’s no lack of spots around the heart of Massachusetts.
London
Though the fate of the iconic, graffiti covered Southbank Skate Park remains uncertain, London is still full of spots, although the ground isn’t always forgiving. With marble ledges and banks, plenty of natural transitions, rails, and bricks to make things challenging, the city has been integral for years, and has been grabbing more attention thanks to the rise of international brands, including the popular Palace Skateboards. Converse even threw down to help refurbish the rundown Kennington Bowl, providing another haven for those who want a break from the streets.
Shenzhen
You know a city is crucial when it becomes the spot that high profile teams to hit up to grab those last few clips before releasing a big video. That’s why you’ll recognize the perfect granite, wavy ledges, and sprawling landscape of Shenzen, China, most notably featured in several of Girl’s videos. Free of skatestoppers and packed with every obstacle imaginable, it’s a paradise for sure, but just watch out for pedestrians and street performers.
Paris
Many were first exposed to skating in Paris by the footage in Blind’s Video Days, in which Mark Gonzales and his team of legends cruised the banks beneath the Eiffel Tower, among other spots. For decades the city has been an important cog in European skating with its spread out and classic architecture, ripe for skating. Along with the ledges, stairs, rails, and banks often covered by water under the Tower, the lip of La Vague is both challenging and a spot entirely unique to Paris.
Philadelphia
Anchored by Love Park, which is constantly going through stages of being banned, altered, and rumored to be freed up once again, Philadelphia’s streets look raw no matter what lens captures them. There’s so much more than Love’s ledges as evidenced by years of wall rides, pole jams, and the absolute destruction put down by Ishod Wair, Mark Suciu and others. In addition to seemingly endless streets packed with cellar doors and natural obstacles, there are plenty of transitions and parks, including the legendary FDR and Franklin’s Paine Park, which boasts ledges relocated from City Hall and Love Park.
New York City
Sure there’s a new park popping up almost every month and eventually the Brooklyn Banks will see a revitalization thanks to the efforts of Steve Rodriguez and other devoted New York icons, but everyone knows that skating in NYC is always about the streets. Sometimes the hottest spot in Manhattan is a construction site that’s gone in a few weeks, while other times it’s something in an outer borough that seems impossible to skate, but it always looks distinct on camera. It’s that mix of landmark spots and streets that change by the minute, coupled with traffic, people and attitude that make NYC both a challenge and a triumph to skate.
Barcelona
Barcelona might have had a golden era when it seemed like every skater flocked there for cheap living and absolute freedom to skate anywhere, but it’s still one of the great places to skate in the world. MACBA, Forum, the manny pads at Paral-lel, and the rail at Besos that you dream of switch kickflipping, but probably can barely ollie, are just a fraction of the spots in one of skateboarding’s heaviest cities. With so many destinations, it’s no wonder people move there in order to actually take it all in.
Los Angeles
With a broad palette of parks, schoolyards, streets, and training facilities — if you’re lucky enough to gain access — Los Angeles is more than one of the best places to skate in the word, it’s part of the heritage of skateboarding. The city’s history is skateboarding’s history and has been a proving ground for skateboarders around the world for generations. It’s impossible to breakdown the history in a paragraph — from the salad days to the Venice Pits and the work put in on the Wilshire rails — because it runs so deep. J Kwon emerged as the focal point of Los Angeles for a while, but the heat’s been coming down. Fear not, though, there’s no lack of terrain and another spot will soon become the next mainstay.
San Francisco
Mild weather, perfect hills, and the home of Thrasher — the pulse of skateboarding since its first issue — San Francisco might not have gotten the shine Los Angeles did in skating’s earliest days, but it doesn’t lack history and a pedigree of skate legends. Embarcadero, the China Banks, Fort Miley, Pier 7, 3rd and Army, and countless streets to throw down on, San Francisco’s list of spots past and present is stunning. What makes SF a standout is that it’s one of the new California cities that is almost a pastiche of the best out. Ledges, rails, raw streets, hidden spots, smooth marble, and more combine to make it a mix of East Coast, West Coast, and everything in between. But what makes The City By The Bay special is its hills, and bombing them is rite of passage for anyone who rolls there.
Much of what attracts people to skateboarding is how exploratory the act of it is. Dropping your board down in a new place is experiential and taps into the spirit of true adventure. Along with sessioning a spot, the whole process of scouring the streets, hoping to be the first to find something new, meeting people, and even posting up for a bite, is all part of the journey.
Rolling around a newly constructed public park or dodging a security guard for one hit on a sacred spot both provide a different thrill, and the cities that have the most opportunities become legendary. With skating becoming more global, it’s not just focused on the United States or even California anymore, but with possibilities lurking around the globe. New ground is being brought to light daily, but here are 10 cities that stand out from all the destinations worldwide.