BirminghamDome.com

Homewood Park’s skateboarding area is being dismantled today as the result of a Park and Recreation meeting held last night. According to some, the skate park had been a place of ill-repute for some time now, attracting kids that reportedly had fights and sprayed graffiti around the city. By this move, city officials hope to remove the unwanted element from the upper-class suburban park and make the area more family friendly. It remains to be seen, however, if actions such as these have any affect on the community they are trying to preserve. Some are predicting an increase in skateboarders moving to more public places in a city already short of appropriate places to skate as it is.

Even more curious is why places home to much more serious offences, namely Banana Joe’s, remain open while city parks are now being targeted as crime hotspots. Some citizens also complain about not having enough activities and places for young people to hang out while at the same time wanting these very same places shut down. It seems clear that the kids of today need somewhere to go as long as it isn’t in our own back yard.

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