KIDS THESE DAYS:

The irony of Costa Mesa’s search for a location for a second skate park was noted here several months ago. First, the city couldn’t decide where to build the original, now it can’t wait to build a second.

The debate is now centering on which location will have the smallest footprint on the existing territory, whether it is Lions Park, Fairview Park or some location that has yet to be determined.

Before any serious mistake is made, the city needs to slow down the process in order to ask important questions about whether a second skate park is needed and if so, where it should be located.

Most of the answers will not be found by listening to adults. All of the grown-ups seem to have either a favorite location or are so opposed to another suggestion that they will chain themselves to the construction bulldozers in order to prevent its development.

It’s great that Costa Mesa wants to make the city more kid-friendly by adding a second park. But without some basic knowledge, the process is just a guess.

Almost all of the answers to all of the skate park questions can be found at the current skate park. There, the city should take a more formal marketing approach to the process and start tracking the current users to find out among other things:

 How many are using it?

 Where are they coming from?

 Where they think a second location would be helpful.

Let’s say, for example, that a survey finds that there is a surprisingly large percentage of kids from Newport Beach who are using the current skate park. That revelation should provide the motivation for the two city councils to work on a joint venture.

Or let’s imagine that the survey reveals the current skate park users are really just a fairly small core group of kids and that a second park isn’t even necessary.

And perhaps the survey reveals that most of the kids are being driven to the park in a car. That should make a difference in the location, the idea being that a more bus-friendly location is unimportant.

We should ask the skaters where they’d like to see the new park. I believe adults will find that kids will provide the most clear, direct and usable answers possible as they are free from some of the biases that cause adults to choose one way or another.

The thing is, we don’t know any of this because we have not properly asked. And if for no other reason than the new park is theirs, we should be involving the city’s children.

You can lump me in with the aforementioned group that is passionate about places it should not be.

I like Fairview Park near the little railroad. There is plenty of space there. But if the purists get their way, that location is doomed. So, I have another idea.

In order to provide at least a minimum of science to the new location, I went to the current skate park. There, I took a mental measurement of the land required for a similar park, forgetting for the moment that a smaller-size skate park may be in the works.

Then I drove over to my new location and after some serious scouting, I found that a skate park of the current size will fit nicely in one of a few underutilized areas of the city’s municipal golf course.

There are a lot of advantages to this location, including the opportunity for parents to play golf while their kids skate.

But most important, it is a place that will have the least impact on the existing facility.

Oh, and don’t worry about kids getting hit with golf balls. I promise to skip the hole where the skate park eventually winds up.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to [email protected].