Although the skateboard's been around for a while, recent modifications to traditional designs are targeting skateboards for an older, wealthier demographic.
Conor Dougherty reports on the newest trend in multi-modal commuting: skateboards. "Here in Silicon Valley, inventors are tinkering with a revolutionary transportation technology. It's called a skateboard," reports Dougherty with tongue—at least a little bit—in cheek.
"Witness a sampling of new electric skateboards and skateboard-like contraptions: There's the Boosted board, whose feisty motor can rocket up hills. Also the ZBoard, which is slower and wider but has big fat wheels to plow over pebbles and debris. Then there are oddballs like the Onewheel, a "self-balancing electric skateboard" that looks like a teeter-totter, works like a Segway and isn't really a skateboard."
But the new era of skateboarding isn't designed for your typical teen in a Ramones t-shirt: "None of this stuff is aimed at what you might call real skateboarders. Instead it is for the growing number of urban professionals who don't want to drive to work."
FULL STORY: No Longer for Punks, Skateboards Cater to Yuppie Commuters
Will Millennials Remake Suburbs in Their Image?
The "hipsterification" of cities is a well-known phenomenon. But as the millennial generation ages and settles down, will they import that same cultural ethos to locations more suburban?
What Millennials Want: A Multi-Modal City
A recent study finds evidence of an overwhelming desire by Millennials to live multi-modal, car-lite lifestyles. They're even prepared to move to find what they want.
Hipsters Flee as Invasion of the Baby Boomers Picks Up Speed
In the hip neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Seattle, and Denver, a silver tsunami is joining, and often forcing out, tattooed and mustachioed Millennials, as retiring Baby Boomers increasingly embrace urban living.
The Top Urban Planning Books of 2022
An annual list of the must-read books related to urban planning and its intersecting fields.
European Cities Act on Density
The sprawling mass of suburbia has been a disaster for the environment. But now smaller, denser cities herald a renaissance in city living.
Nashville Sets Downtown Parking Maximums
Nashville is the latest city to enact a substantive change to the parking requirements set by the city’s zoning code—doing away with parking minimums and setting parking maximums in the city’s Urban Zoning Overlay.
Advice for a Post-Parking Mandate World
After abolishing parking requirements, what can cities do to make the most of new space and revenue and avoid backlash?
Western Voters: Yes to Conservation, No to Extremism
Voters in Western states generally favored candidates who support public land conservation in this November’s election and rejected extremist rhetoric.
Detailing the Boring Company’s Poor Track Record
Elon Musk’s promised solution for congestion—the Boring Co.—has proven most successful at disappearing on the governments that trusted them.
PlaceWorks
City of Oakland, California
Rural Innovation Strategies, Inc
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Georgia Tech
California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority)
Missoula Redevelopment Agency
City of Joliet
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
