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.
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
Dallas Surburb Bans New Airbnbs
Plano’s city council banned all new permits for short-term rentals as concerns about their impacts on housing costs grow.
Divvy Introduces E-Bike Charging Docks
New, circular docks let e-bikes charge at stations, eliminating the need for frequent battery swaps.
How Freeway Projects Impact Climate Resilience
In addition to displacement and public health impacts, highway expansions can also make communities less resilient to flooding and other climate-related disasters.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
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.
