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Less than 500 people live in the town of Rutland, OH, but hundreds more migrate in and out of its borders every year to visit one 88-acre farm called Skatopia.
Aside from being one of the most well known backyard skate parks in the world, Skatopia is a somewhat warped version of J.M. Barrie's Neverland, with people of all ages coming to "experience" the fringe culture that has developed there, fueled by binge drinking, light drug use, casual sex, and rampant destruction of cars or property of any kind. Although "88 acres of anarchy" is the skate park slogan, it functions more like a cooperative dictatorship, according to farm owner, Brewce Martin. The gates are open all of the time as people generally filter in and out at their own will. Some camp out for a weekend, others build cabins from scraps and stay for a year; just about everyone raises hell.
08/04/10 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Wow, just read about this place and thought I google it for some additional information. Seems like you’ve found it way before my magazine…
Anyway, the atmosphere there seems to be so dense and intensive. I guess the images can’t even capture it the right way. I wonder how long this place will last…
07/19/10 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Impressive Photos. The Skater Nation rules. Thanks for sharing. Hope more to come.
10/11/09 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Beautiful series.
09/25/09 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
I thought america looked down on these things “binge drinking, drug use, casual sex, and rampant destruction of cars or property of any kind” ? Or are they only detestable when darker skins are involved ?
07/31/09 | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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Skatopia - a place where I don`t want to be but I was touched to see - thank you for sharing!
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