1) In 2002, there were about 16 million skateboarders and an estimated 400 public skate parks in the United States. That number is up from 11.5 million skateboarders in 2000. (Incidentally, in 2000, there were only 9 million Little League baseball players in the U.S., yet most cities with multiple baseball fields had yet to build skate parks.)

2) The city of Oceanside, California has been carefully tracking the use of its modest 11,000-square-foot ramp park, and reports that 1,000 skaters per week have used the park in the past year. Oceanside is now planning to build three more neighborhood skate parks.

3) At a recent national convention of parks-and-recreation officials, the topic most were eager to discuss was skate parks and how to get one -- quick.