Feb 10, 2017
3. Orange County, CA- Huntington Beach- Costa Mesa- Santa Ana, CA
Nested inside the L.A. metro area, Orange County has long been skateboarder’s favorite home. While technically not a city, the area sports a collection of some of some of the world’s most skateable terrain. El Toro High School gives skaters a chance to their claim at skateboard fame. This 22 stair rail (now defunct) has had arguably the most infamous impact of any rail in skateboarding.
Skateboarders, like Ed Templeton, Ryan Sheckler, Andrew Reynolds, Heath Kirchart, and Ronnie Creager, have all claimed “OC” as home turf at some point.
2. San Francisco
San Francisco has long retained top ranks for skateboarding terrain, weather, culture, and commerce. Since the founding of skating, the rolling hills of SF have become the proving grounds for skateboarding. Iconic companies, like Thrasher, Big Brother, Real, and Think, have called the SF Bay Area home. Despite the enormous population growth of the Bay Area, the skate scene has continued to act as a family-like clan.
Greats, like Jason Wussler, Mark Gonzalez, Matt Fields, Karl Watson, and Keith Hufnagel, have called SF and it’s skate spots, “Home.”
The early 90’s may prove to have been San Francisco’s golden age as spots like Pier 7, Third and Army, and Hubba Hideout became world famous.
1. Los Angeles
The undeniable epicenter for the skateboard industry might unanimously be Los Angeles. Hundreds of skateboard companies call L.A. home. The sprawling concrete jungle blankets the hilly California landscape with numerous skate spots. The iconic California fiberglass picnic tables grace the schoolyards throughout this region.
Spots, like the Sand Gaps, the West L.A. Courthouse, DWP, Hollywood High, and Sylmar, cement Los Angeles’ place in skateboard history.
Nearly perfect year-round weather, an annual average in the low 70’s, corroborates LA’s ‘endless summer’ image.
This article was written by GoSkate.com which is a skateboard school that teaches in Los Angeles and several other cities nationwide.