I think the city of Hamilton, NY or one of the surrounding cities would be a great place to have a skate park built. I have been here for about 4 months and working with a lot or recreation centers and youth organizations I have found that the things for kids to do here can be limited because of our rural upstate location. It seems that skate parks are usually built closer to the big cities, but there are lots of kids that enjoy skating that live in the country as well. Although the university bring in money and there are a number of alumni that reside here, the cit is surrounded by smaller towns such as Utica, Oneida, Binghamton, and Ithica that have a large number of families in poverty. Hamilton itself has about 8,000 people but we attract a lot of families to our sporting events because we are always offering deals for our tickets. As drive past various schools on the weekend there are always kids skating in the parking lot or in their neighborhoods. 25% of the married couples in Oneida are low income, and there are less people there then there are here in Hamilton. The median household income is $25,000. The surrounding residential income is 17.8% below poverty.
I think the best plan of action would be to team up with some of the surrounding your groups and the mayor (she has very easy access and attends many Colgate events). There is also a local snowboard/bike/skate board shop that I am sure would assist with what to sponsor the park or do something that would help get it up and running. Since the city is out in upstate New York there is lots of open land. I dont think it would need to be a mega park but something that would suit the youth in our community. The closest skate ramps near this city are Black Mamba Skate Park in Syracuse (an hour away) and Manatauk Skatepark (3 hours away) in Long Island. The general location would be near the college. There is always a sense of community here in Hamilton and I feel like with the right marketing it would be possible to get the University to help fund the park. There are also a number of students that, despite the snow, enjoy skating around campus or to class. I think the part would draw even more families to the city and would give us a platform to offer new and exciting recreation opportunities to the kids in the and around the community.
I think its very important to expose kids to various recreational activities, especially in an area such as this were parents may not be bale to afford to do more expensive sports or travel to see sporting event. Given the income of the area skate boarding is a very cost effective hobby, and keeps the kids active. I have no doubts the the city and potentially the college would support this venture. There are number of marketing events and community relations opportunities that would stem from this. In addition bringing more people into the city, even if only for a day, will also benefit local businesses such as sandwich shops and convenient stores. I think this is a great foundation that not only exposes kids to a new sports but does so by providing a safe and secure means of doing so. Although it may be flashy in some of the larger cities I think skate boarding would certainly be a cost effective, fun, venture to add to the Hamilton community.
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