A description of the bizarre map detailing the methods used and a short analysis.

1. Andy Miller<br />Bizarre Map Write Up<br />4-6-2010<br />For my project on the Bizarre Map Challenge project, my topic is skateboarding. For the past year and a half I have been collecting information on the sport of skateboarding, and analyzing the data, and using this data to show California's dominance of the sport. I have gathered data on the history, birthplaces and current residences of the professional skateboarders, skateboarding magazine locations, and locations of major competitions that involve the sport. The data show that California has birthed the extreme sport and has maintained the hold on the sport as far as places to skate, skate companies, and professional teams. <br />In this portion of the map challenge, I have collected data on the number of skateparks in each state of the U.S. And then the data was entered into ArcGIS and a chloropleth map was made of the total number of parks in each state. I then “personified” the United States with Alaska being the head of the body, and the rest of the conterminous US rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise as the body with the exception of the west coast states, i.e. California, Washington, and Oregon. I detached the western states and used them as the skateboard of which the body is riding upon. I used the drawing tools in ArcGis to draw the wheels of the “skateboard” and the legs, arms, neck, eye, and mouth to add the personification. The western states tend to have the most skateparks of the US and they basically are the skateboard sector of the US. So, portraying them as the skateboard seemed ideal. <br />With this data I hope to show that California and the western united states still have a firm hold on the skateboarding subculture. This is new data to my research will be presented with the rest of my research on California's continuing dominance on a global sport. <br />Data Sources<br />Berra, S., & Koston, E. The Berrics. www.theberrics.com<br />Transworld Skateboarding. Transworld Skateboarding Magazine. www.skateboarding.transworld.net.<br />Concrete Disciples. www.concretedisciples.com<br />