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I found this interesting
US skateboarders pool their talents
Catherine Elsworth, Los Angeles
January 5, 2009
AMERICAN skateboarders are taking advantage of the nation's housing market collapse, using Google Earth and property websites to find abandoned properties with swimming pools that can be used as makeshift skate parks.
Once drained, the smooth contours of a swimming pool provide the ideal arena for practising skate tricks, aficionados claim, and fans of the sport have been flocking to repossession hot spots.
One skateboarder in Fresno, California, said skaters worldwide were descending on the state's Central Valley, which has had rampant home repossessions since the housing downturn started.
"We have more pools than we know what to do with," said Josh Peacock, 27, who identifies possible sites via the web or an estate-agent friend, then drains pools using a gas-powered pump. "I can't even keep track of them all any more," he said.
He said skaters had travelled from as far away as Germany and Australia to practice their aerial stunts in emptied suburban pools. Pool skaters, who risk trespassing charges, are even using property websites and scouring Google Earth satellite images for locations.
Mr Peacock said he and fellow skateboarders adhere to rules such as no graffiti or litter and try to skate in quieter daytime periods, to minimise attention from neighbours and police.
With the US housing market experiencing the worst downturn since the Great Depression, abandoned pools in formerly booming suburbs are common.
The surge in deserted swimming pools has also prompted health fears as neglected water can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying the potentially deadly West Nile virus.
Peacock, who used his skating name, said he was "doing the city a favour" by emptying out Fresno's stagnant pools.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-skateboarders-pool-their-talents-20090104-79u8.html
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Pools.
James R 18:55 05/Jan/09
I found this interesting
US skateboarders pool their talents
Catherine Elsworth, Los Angeles
January 5, 2009
AMERICAN skateboarders are taking advantage of the nation's housing market collapse, using Google Earth and property websites to find abandoned properties with swimming pools that can be used as makeshift skate parks.
Once drained, the smooth contours of a swimming pool provide the ideal arena for practising skate tricks, aficionados claim, and fans of the sport have been flocking to repossession hot spots.
One skateboarder in Fresno, California, said skaters worldwide were descending on the state's Central Valley, which has had rampant home repossessions since the housing downturn started.
"We have more pools than we know what to do with," said Josh Peacock, 27, who identifies possible sites via the web or an estate-agent friend, then drains pools using a gas-powered pump. "I can't even keep track of them all any more," he said.
He said skaters had travelled from as far away as Germany and Australia to practice their aerial stunts in emptied suburban pools. Pool skaters, who risk trespassing charges, are even using property websites and scouring Google Earth satellite images for locations.
Mr Peacock said he and fellow skateboarders adhere to rules such as no graffiti or litter and try to skate in quieter daytime periods, to minimise attention from neighbours and police.
With the US housing market experiencing the worst downturn since the Great Depression, abandoned pools in formerly booming suburbs are common.
The surge in deserted swimming pools has also prompted health fears as neglected water can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying the potentially deadly West Nile virus.
Peacock, who used his skating name, said he was "doing the city a favour" by emptying out Fresno's stagnant pools.
James R 18:55 05/Jan/09
http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-skateboarders-pool-their-talents-20090104-79u8.html
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