Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund rolled out a partnership with the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department to actualize their Master Plan this past week. While it’s not quite as monumental as lifting the No Skating ban in Love Park (the urban park at the eastern end of the Ben Franklin Parkway heralded by skaters until getting chased out in 2004 by Mayor Street), it’s still great news to Philadelphian skateboarders and to Philadelphia as a whole (trust us on this). The somewhat insidious sounding scheme that FPSF is putting together is looking to create free, public skateparks throughout the city over the next five years.

FPSF’s effective ground-up ambitions got us at Naked Philly thinking. First, it made us wonder where our deck is buried in our parent’s garage. Second, it compelled us to consider how great it is to see a group of Philadelphians banding together to reshape the city by repurposing underused or vacant areas. Honestly, there is such an overwhelming need for it, why aren’t more people/groups following their lead?

Philadelphia may not be the perfect city out there right now, but it does have potential and the real estate to be converted into something better and more user-friendly for its denizens. While skateparks are not used or even considered important to a fair share of people, at least this group is getting out there and doing something to transform our city. Which, as we see it, is a very good thing.