Grinding through data: Economics study of skateboarding spaces

“When I was young here there was no place for skating — I think it was actually illegal at the time,” Shaw says. “Now that spaces like this exist, these skaters can show off their skills and build their own community within our community. I think it’s great.”

For Dr. Thomas Kemp, professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a lifelong skateboarder, that community connection between skate parks and their users posed a unique research opportunity for himself and some interested economics students.

“Do well-designed and constructed skate parks bring an overall community benefit?”

That is the question Kemp’s research group has been studying, a passion project that Kemp says is his way of giving back to a sport he has loved for 40 years.

“I’m ready to give a little back to skateboarding, especially these community parks — it’s been a good thing throughout my life,” Kemp says.

The research project, which examined 16 skate parks in Wisconsin and Minnesota, is in the results analysis phase. Anecdotal evidence from community members like Shaw indicates that Kemp’s hypothesis is on track.

“We’re finding that when parks are done right, they become places that are welcoming, where people feel safe — skaters and community members alike,” Kemp says.

See the following video for details about the current study and the lessons learned so far by the team of student researchers.