Typical of major Canadian city, Vancouver is surrounded by a number of suburbs. And typical of the residents of a major Canadian city, Vancouverites tend to look down their nose at most of those suburbs. But sometimes, while we're feeling all superior and shit because we live in Vancouver and not New West or Surrey or Burnaby or PoCo, etc., one of those suburbs will do something small and subtle that points out how bloated and ponderous and uncoordinated we can be.

Take Burnaby for example. Once upon a time, about a decade ago, they built their first skatepark in Confederation Park. Part of that park was a keyhole bowl. Years later, for some reason (disrepair? lack of use? I don't know because I rarely went there) they decided that they needed to upgrade the bowl. So this year they tore it out and got New Line to build them a shiny new one. And with very little apparent fuss, noise, or hassle.

When faced with "vancouver 'china creek' skatepark upgrade", Google turns up 175 results from the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition, Crail Tap, Pedal Revolutionary, The Courier, The Nerve, Skate and Annoy, F-BMX.com, Beyond Robson, etc. A sizeable percentage of the results highlight the widespread opposition to the Vancouver park planning department's initial vision for the future of the park. Now, search for "burnaby confederation skatepark upgrade" and you get 42 results, most of which have absolutely nothing to do with the skatepark in question. What does that tell you? A bit of reading leads me to the admittedly less-than-scientific interpretation that Burnaby's Department of Parks, Recreation, and Culture simply saw a need and filled it in a way that would appeal to and benefit the majority of people who would be affected. They don't appear to have attempted to tell the residents what was best for them while pushing through an upgrade plan that most neighbours opposed.

And isn't that the way it should be done? It makes me think that if Leeside was just a kilometer further east, we might have been enjoying the finished product for a couple of years by now. And hey Burnaby, thanks for not shoving it in our faces either. When Vancouver's own organization that's dedicated to skateparks and skateboarding experiences a ridiculous amount of trouble trying to get a park built under a bridge that nobody uses... it could get embarrassing for a few people when a new park just shows up in your city like that.

And that's that for that. Sure, in the relative scheme of things, skateparks are minor issues with small direct and indirect benefits for a city as a whole, but a city's approach to small things is usually indicative of their approach to big things.

Photo courtesy of mortox.