Famous spot/city anticipation vs realization

[Budgie Lasek]

Skate media fueled your expectations, you saved up, finally visited a city you always wanted to skate - how did it compare to those expectations? Did the circumstances of your trip play any significant role in your experience?

My first time ever visiting California was early spring 98' - San Fransisco with my main skate homie. Rolled my ankle badly at the first spot in the first 5 minutes of the trip (old jersey barrier spot that used to be hot), made for a very frustrating trip. I made the best of it and filmed, but knew I would be taking a mulligan on that trip. Subsequent trips went better and I was able to muster a few clips on each visit. EMB bricks were ridiculously rough. Hubba was so high. Bombing hills with intersections in a major city is scary as shit. Ft.Miley is super fun. Cracked out Henry tried to sell me tear away Polo pants at Pier 7. The 3rd and Army gap with the bike rack was unbelievably long. New EMB was way better than old EMB. It can, and often does, get super cold when the fog rolls in, even on hot days.

Overall, I loved SF and although it's not an easy place to skate, it remained one of my favorite cities until I went back a couple years ago and it had changed dramatically. Luxury cars and wealthy people as far as they eye can see. Expense beyond reason. These days I keep driving right past the Bay to SoCal. SF showed me that Cali isn't all perfect spots and 24/7 sun, but I enjoyed the big city vibe and aesthetic.

To avoid writing a novel, I'll leave the initial post at that, but my recent trip to Barcelona was what sparked this. I'll add more if the thread grows.

[Baron Samedi]

Barcelona was basically exactly what I had imagined. Banks everywhere, famous spots everywhere, fun everywhere.

I've skated SF tons of times and pretty much every spot is way gnarlier than it looks on film.

Conversely, most of the spots I've been to in LA are way mellower in person than on film.

[feedmeseymour]

it depends on who youre with, i took a trip to philly to skate street with local dudes, it was great because they knew all the spots to go to. but going to an unknown area with no tour guide is tough, unless its nyc because its so compact, youre bound to come across something.

[5inchDick]

THE WHOLE LOS ANGELES AREA

OH LETS GO SKATE THIS 30 STAIR RAIL

IN NJ ITS A MED 8 STAIR

LOLOL

[maggotspawn]

When I moved to S.F. back in the 80's, first spot I hit was The Dish. That spot pretty much sucks compared to The Bro Bowl in Tampa.

[stevedave]

When I moved to S.F. back in the 80's, first spot I hit was The Dish. That spot pretty much sucks compared to The Bro Bowl in Tampa.

it's gone now and been replaced with a concrete skate park.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Biggest surprise about LA to me was a great one. Everybody makes it seem like you have to drive 3 hours between each spot and that you need to know where spots are.
The reality is, you can skate it that way, but there are amazing spots EVERYWHERE in LA. A person can easily go downtown, to Korea town, venice, santa monica, westwood, century city, and a ton of other places and push around all day skating spots.
It also isn’t all overwaxed perfect spots, there are plenty of cutty urban spots, especially on the east side of downtown and in south la.
If you want to be specific and skate Sylmar and Crenshaw high back to back, yeah, you are going to do a ton of driving, but nobody has to do that. You can find any spot you imagine in LA, which is why I think so many people drive so much going to that perfect version of everything.
Basically, if you have ever thought of doing a skate trip to LA but are scared you won’t find anything, just go and you’ll be fine. Don’t move there though, its a shit place to live.

San Diego is basically all of my shitty assumptions about LA made real. Spots are hard to find, you have to drive to them, and the downtown sucks.

When I went to Brooklyn was a disappointment but Manhattan was fucking amazing.

[Budgie Lasek]

Biggest surprise about LA to me was a great one. Everybody makes it seem like you have to drive 3 hours between each spot and that you need to know where spots are.
The reality is, you can skate it that way, but there are amazing spots EVERYWHERE in LA. A person can easily go downtown, to Korea town, venice, santa monica, westwood, century city, and a ton of other places and push around all day skating spots.
It also isn’t all overwaxed perfect spots, there are plenty of cutty urban spots, especially on the east side of downtown and in south la.
If you want to be specific and skate Sylmar and Crenshaw high back to back, yeah, you are going to do a ton of driving, but nobody has to do that. You can find any spot you imagine in LA, which is why I think so many people drive so much going to that perfect version of everything.
Basically, if you have ever thought of doing a skate trip to LA but are scared you won’t find anything, just go and you’ll be fine. Don’t move there though, its a shit place to live.

San Diego is basically all of my shitty assumptions about LA made real. Spots are hard to find, you have to drive to them, and the downtown sucks.

When I went to Brooklyn was a disappointment but Manhattan was fucking amazing.

100% agree about LA. Great spots everywhere. Countless times I saw ledges that weren't even waxed that would be our best spots if we had them Vancouver. The courthouse is actually my favorite spot I've ever skated.

Southern California is my Shangri La. I've lived in Oceanside and Mission beach in SD, it feels like home to me. Yes, spots are a bit more spread out than LA, but they're still amazing and pretty much every school has something good to skate. Wish we had the mini tables in SD though. I first visited in 99' and knew right away that I wanted to eventually live out the rest of my life there (still working on it). I know people who can't stand SoCal, but to each his own I guess.

[Dermbot]

Every touristy spot in San Diego is nobbed or demolished now. After Dying to live or even New blood, San Diego was pretty much dust. San Diego was oozing with spots in Welcome to Hell and Misled Youth and all the Zero videos up to new blood. unless you can get creative like Wes, you aint doin shit here except skating all our new parks

To find out all the real spots left in San Diego, reference the new Lurkville video. 95% of that video take place on the ruins of 90s and early 2000's dream spots.

Every block in LA has some famous spot on it. Spots are fucking everywhere out there and everything has been done on them and you have seen every clip. Its hard to actually get sparked on skating spots out there. its almost like you just drive around and see a spot that koston, reynolds, greco, antwan, herman, gino, and terry kennedy skated 100 times and you just talk about all the shit you've seen done there. You get out the car, dont even bring your board, look at it and talk about what reynolds did in bakrer 2G and Prod in Yeah Right and Koston in Fully Flared, then go to the next spot. thats pretty much skating in LA in a nut shell.

SF, even though is small and there is constantly footage coming out of there, You could spend a life time there and never skate the same spot twice. Every house. Every Stoop. Every Hill, Every alley, has something skateable in it, be it a famous spot or not. Theres handrails you can skate over or down on every street. theres a wallie or wallride everywhere. there is bump over hydrants and blocks everywhere. Nothing that many things are nobbed considering the nob volume in the rest of california.  Everything is skatable. Also the hills are super gnarly but the roads are super weathered so bombing hills, though rough, you never really max out on speed like you would on a smooth ass black top. Still scary but not nearly as hectic as it looks. Thats why dudes look so casual on GX hill bomb insta clips. The sidewalks get you fuckin cookin tho. streets are crusty. place is the best.

[Budgie Lasek]

San Diego...  unless you can get creative like Wes, you aint doin shit here except skating all our new parks

Every block in LA has some famous spot on it. Spots are fucking everywhere out there and everything has been done on them and you have seen every clip. Its hard to actually get sparked on skating spots out there. its almost like you just drive around and see a spot that koston, reynolds, greco, antwan, herman, gino, and terry kennedy skated 100 times and you just talk about all the shit you've seen done there. You get out the car, dont even bring your board, look at it and talk about what reynolds did in bakrer 2G and Prod in Yeah Right and Koston in Fully Flared, then go to the next spot. thats pretty much skating in LA in a nut shell.

SF, even though is small and there is constantly footage coming out of there, You could spend a life time there and never skate the same spot twice. Every house. Every Stoop. Every Hill, Every alley, has something skateable in it, be it a famous spot or not. Theres handrails you can skate over or down on every street. theres a wallie or wallride everywhere. there is bump over hydrants and blocks everywhere. Nothing that many things are nobbed considering the nob volume in the rest of california.  Everything is skatable. Also the hills are super gnarly but the roads are super weathered so bombing hills, though rough, you never really max out on speed like you would on a smooth ass black top. Still scary but not nearly as hectic as it looks. Thats why dudes look so casual on GX hill bomb insta clips. The sidewalks get you fuckin cookin tho. streets are crusty. place is the best.

Interesting takes. Everyone has different experiences. I didn't have the same experience as you in any of those cities, and I've been to SF multiple times, and lived in SD and LA. I think it has a lot to do with how much you romanticize a place in your own mind. For instance, when I was just in Barcelona, every next spot we went to my homie would proclaim "this is the best ground I've ever rolled on, oh my god!", even if it was uneven tile ground. He's just so in love with Barcelona that he sees it through seriously rose colored glasses. Every spot was "the best spot I ever skated". Personally, I just love southern California, so I've got a bit of the same thing going on when it comes to there. Sounds like you feel the same about SF.

[pugmaster]

LA high banks are way weirder to skate in person than how they looked on video.  In person, they are the exact angle I wanted them not to be.

[Dermbot]

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San Diego...  unless you can get creative like Wes, you aint doin shit here except skating all our new parks

Every block in LA has some famous spot on it. Spots are fucking everywhere out there and everything has been done on them and you have seen every clip. Its hard to actually get sparked on skating spots out there. its almost like you just drive around and see a spot that koston, reynolds, greco, antwan, herman, gino, and terry kennedy skated 100 times and you just talk about all the shit you've seen done there. You get out the car, dont even bring your board, look at it and talk about what reynolds did in bakrer 2G and Prod in Yeah Right and Koston in Fully Flared, then go to the next spot. thats pretty much skating in LA in a nut shell.

SF, even though is small and there is constantly footage coming out of there, You could spend a life time there and never skate the same spot twice. Every house. Every Stoop. Every Hill, Every alley, has something skateable in it, be it a famous spot or not. Theres handrails you can skate over or down on every street. theres a wallie or wallride everywhere. there is bump over hydrants and blocks everywhere. Nothing that many things are nobbed considering the nob volume in the rest of california.  Everything is skatable. Also the hills are super gnarly but the roads are super weathered so bombing hills, though rough, you never really max out on speed like you would on a smooth ass black top. Still scary but not nearly as hectic as it looks. Thats why dudes look so casual on GX hill bomb insta clips. The sidewalks get you fuckin cookin tho. streets are crusty. place is the best.

[close]

Interesting takes. Everyone has different experiences. I didn't have the same experience as you in any of those cities, and I've been to SF multiple times, and lived in SD and LA. I think it has a lot to do with how much you romanticize a place in your own mind. For instance, when I was just in Barcelona, every next spot we went to my homie would proclaim "this is the best ground I've ever rolled on, oh my god!", even if it was uneven tile ground. He's just so in love with Barcelona that he sees it through seriously rose colored glasses. Every spot was "the best spot I ever skated". Personally, I just love southern California, so I've got a bit of the same thing going on when it comes to there. Sounds like you feel the same about SF.

Ive lived in San Diego my whole life. I was born here. I didnt move here from backwoods west virginia. We arent talking about the vibe of the city. we are talking about the spots.

[Budgie Lasek]

Ive lived in San Diego my whole life. I was born here. I didnt move here from backwoods west virginia. We arent talking about the vibe of the city. we are talking about the spots.

For sure... and what I was saying is that maybe being from there is what makes the difference. I don't ever want to skate in Vancouver again, to be honest, but I'm sure lots of people from other places think it's the tits for skating. If you've lived in SD your whole life, there's a good chance you're sick of the spots. But, the spots are there, and they are technically good spots, regardless of how much they've been ABD'd. In Canada we're still recycling crusty old shit spots that were skated since the 80's.

[Dermbot]

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Ive lived in San Diego my whole life. I was born here. I didnt move here from backwoods west virginia. We arent talking about the vibe of the city. we are talking about the spots.

[close]

For sure... and what I was saying is that maybe being from there is what makes the difference. I don't ever want to skate in Vancouver again, to be honest, but I'm sure lots of people from other places think it's the tits for skating. If you've lived in SD your whole life, there's a good chance you're sick of the spots. But, the spots are there, and they are technically good spots, regardless of how much they've been ABD'd. In Canada we're still recycling crusty old shit spots that were skated since the 80's.

Nah nah. All the spots here would be fucking dope still if they wernt nobbed or gone. Corthouse shootout ledge. nobbed to death. Muilans 14 and 21. Nobbed and murdered to death. La Jolla 18. Nobbed. Got raped by jamie thomas and nyjah. Brooklyn 11 and 16. nobbed. Everything that you know out here.  LA spots are sick as fuck and perfect. But again, you spend more time looking at the spots and thinking of all the gnarliness that happened there your whole life than skating it. Its not that fun going to beverly high to skate the 9 rails and maybe do bs smith in a line when Prod switch back noseblunted it like 15 years ago and arto did bs smith in a 411 from 2001. SF is fucking sick and is made for skating.

There is literally nothing in the world i want more than for all the spots in my city to be skatable again. Nothing more.

[straight]

Hubba was so high.

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

[mongopushingmallgraber]

What do you guys think about New York?

[friendly dave]

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Hubba was so high.

[close]

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

I remember thinking the opposite. I thought hubba would have been much bigger.

[Budgie Lasek]

Nah nah. All the spots here would be fucking dope still if they wernt nobbed or gone. Corthouse shootout ledge. nobbed to death. Muilans 14 and 21. Nobbed and murdered to death. La Jolla 18. Nobbed. Got raped by jamie thomas and nyjah. Brooklyn 11 and 16. nobbed. Everything that you know out here.  LA spots are sick as fuck and perfect. But again, you spend more time looking at the spots and thinking of all the gnarliness that happened there your whole life than skating it. Its not that fun going to beverly high to skate the 9 rails and maybe do bs smith in a line when Prod switch back noseblunted it like 15 years ago and arto did bs smith in a 411 from 2001. SF is fucking sick and is made for skating.

There is literally nothing in the world i want more than for all the spots in my city to be skatable again. Nothing more.

This just made me remember how rail and gap oriented SoCal skaters often are. Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, but helps explain why I still like skating there. I don't really bother with handrails. I've never found rail skating that interesting unless it's a more tech trick on a smaller rail. I mostly skate Sorento, Carlsbad, Vista etc... but quite possibly on stuff that's been murdered and I have no idea cause' I haven't watched any local SD shop/homie vids. Ledges, bumps, banks. Holy shit the ditch spots on the coast are fun!

I think I may have done a little LA spot touristing, but for the most part I just skated. Found a school that had unskated tables that I've never seen in a video. Skated the courthouse loads. East LA has endless spots. I can't stand driving just to look at famous spots, I always tell people "hey, if you're just bringing me there to show me a famous thing and not skate it, let's not bother." Must have said that 5 times a day in Barcelona. Wasn't our scene in LA though.

[Budgie Lasek]

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Hubba was so high.

[close]

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

[close]

I remember thinking the opposite. I thought hubba would have been much bigger.

Jesus. How high is high to you? Neck high? 

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

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Hubba was so high.

[close]

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

[close]

I remember thinking the opposite. I thought hubba would have been much bigger.

Same. They just looked like two perfect hubbas to me.

And there’s nothing mellow about the hills the gx guys skate. Its definitely not some rough cement trick, those dudes are just fucking insane

[Budgie Lasek]

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Hubba was so high.

[close]

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

[close]

I remember thinking the opposite. I thought hubba would have been much bigger.

[close]

Same. They just looked like two perfect hubbas to me.

And there’s nothing mellow about the hills the gx guys skate. Its definitely not some rough cement trick, those dudes are just fucking insane

Friendly Dave and the Gip 7 feet tall, confirmed. 

And yeah, not sure what homie was talking about with that 'rough streets' argument. The hills I skated in SF were rough but still psycho fast, and the GX dudes are hitting gnarlier hills than I did from the looks of it.

[Dermbot]

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Hubba was so high.

[close]

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

[close]

I remember thinking the opposite. I thought hubba would have been much bigger.

[close]

Same. They just looked like two perfect hubbas to me.

And there’s nothing mellow about the hills the gx guys skate. Its definitely not some rough cement trick, those dudes are just fucking insane

[close]

Friendly Dave and the Gip 7 feet tall, confirmed. 

And yeah, not sure what homie was talking about with that 'rough streets' argument. The hills I skated in SF were rough but still psycho fast, and the GX dudes are hitting gnarlier hills than I did from the looks of it.

its not that gnar if you arent poosey. sidewalk hillbombs are fuckkkkked. streets are just too weathered to reach terminal velocity unless you are trying to bomb something that is obviously too big.

[Budgie Lasek]

What do you guys think about New York?

New York - Being from the east coast originally, I figured I had an idea of how 'rough' the spots might be... especially after hearing east coast skaters talk about how rugged the spots are in skate media. Well, they're playing that up a bit. New York (Manhattan)has loads of great spots that aren't nearly as rough as the Canadian east coast garbage I grew up skating. The angle iron ledges on the waterfront are so sick, but I got booted instantly by cops. I went out there to visit homies I met in AZ, around 2012. Stayed in Bed Stuy and Newark, NJ. It unfortunately rained most of the time, and my friends were working, so I checked everything out on my own. Everything seemed really expensive. If I went back with a crew I'm sure we'd have a time, but it didn't really appeal to me that much. I can travel to California for much less and vastly prefer it... sorry NY.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

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Hubba was so high.

[close]

i remember standing there thinking   . . how the fuvk did koston get on top of that backside noseblunt

[close]

I remember thinking the opposite. I thought hubba would have been much bigger.

[close]

Same. They just looked like two perfect hubbas to me.

And there’s nothing mellow about the hills the gx guys skate. Its definitely not some rough cement trick, those dudes are just fucking insane

[close]

Friendly Dave and the Gip 7 feet tall, confirmed. 

And yeah, not sure what homie was talking about with that 'rough streets' argument. The hills I skated in SF were rough but still psycho fast, and the GX dudes are hitting gnarlier hills than I did from the looks of it.

[close]

its not that gnar if you arent poosey. sidewalk hillbombs are fuckkkkked. streets are just too weathered to reach terminal velocity unless you are trying to bomb something that is obviously too big.

I guess I’m poosey, because the hills those fellas skate scare the fuck out of me and hills smaller than the ones they skate have taken me out on more than one occassion.

[Sold Out]

Most spots I've been to, I've always thought they were mellower than they looked on camera with a huge fish eye crammed against them.

But I just went to that rail in New York that Tyshawn gap backlips. It was unbelievable in real life. Even a boardslide would be insane, but the risk factor and pop on a gap to backlip is insane.

[VHS ERA]

What do you guys think about New York?

Moved here 3 years ago and have explored many spots. There are some smooth spots, but the crust is real.

Many times I’ve seen the photo or video of a spot and thought “that looks kinda crusty and hard to skate” then I get there and it’s more like “this is unskateably rough how the FUCK did that pro do that trick here. Unbelievable”

Plus there’s so many people and so much shit going it can be hard to focus. Sometimes I just want a quiet, bust-free ledge that won’t be overrun by a basketball game or 6 other skaters or tourists sitting down on it.

That said I love it more than anywhere else.

[Bumpovertrash]

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What do you guys think about New York?

[close]

Moved here 3 years ago and have explored many spots. There are some smooth spots, but the crust is real.

Many times I’ve seen the photo or video of a spot and thought “that looks kinda crusty and hard to skate” then I get there and it’s more like “this is unskateably rough how the FUCK did that pro do that trick here. Unbelievable”

Plus there’s so many people and so much shit going it can be hard to focus. Sometimes I just want a quiet, bust-free ledge that won’t be overrun by a basketball game or 6 other skaters or tourists sitting down on it.

That said I love it more than anywhere else.

I get stage fright street skating here in the midwest let alone newyork. I could not handle having that many people around me.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Most spots I've been to, I've always thought they were mellower than they looked on camera with a huge fish eye crammed against them.

But I just went to that rail in New York that Tyshawn gap backlips. It was unbelievable in real life. Even a boardslide would be insane, but the risk factor and pop on a gap to backlip is insane.

Any spot in NYC Westgate has christened is fucking insane.

[shark tits]

went to san diego in 2001. i said aloud 'this place looks like it was the best 2 yrs ago'. everything was knobbed even felix rails. even the round marble hubba jamie rode down in WTH, son.

[Budgie Lasek]

Almost forgot - all the bump over/to bars I saw in the New York area were huge. So nuts what gets done over them.