Meanwhile, American skateboarders are also finding new places to practice by exploiting the home foreclosure crisis to make use of abandoned swimming pools. Continuing a tradition of pool skating (this is one way Tony Hawk started out), skaters are using property websites and Google Maps to track abandoned properties in areas like Fresno, California.
Once a new site has been hunted down, the skateboarders use a gas-powered pump to drain the pools, revealing smooth, contoured bowls perfect for practising aerial tricks. Although the skateboarders are taking a risk by breaking trespassing laws it has also been argued that they are providing a service by draining otherwise stagnant pools.
