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For a city known for skateparks and rainy weather, Portland has remarkably few indoor options for those long dreary winters. Seeing this, AJ Waters started Stronger Skatepark (6102 SE King Road, Milwaukie, 503-850-4572, strongerskatepark.com) in 2019 when many of the indoor skatepark options were closing or private (and exclusive).
Just south of Portland in Milwaukie, Stronger has built a community where skateboards, roller skates, inline skates, and even scooters coexist in raucous harmony. With an expansion it opened in 2021, the park has plenty of room and enough options to satisfy everyone. From perfect ledges and flat bars to a 5-foot mini ramp, it’s got you covered.
Although Stronger’s youth camps keep the place busy all summer, adult lessons have become a surprise hit for the park. It even had to expand its adult beginner classes to three times a month to meet demand for the community that’s grown from them.
“There’s probably like 20 adult beginners who are all friends with each other who do skate days together now,” Waters says. “And most of them are over the age of 40. Who would have thought that would be a thing?”
Queer, trans and nonbinary skateboarders have been getting more sponsorships and starting their own successful brands over the past few years, but skate shops and parks are still dominated by the majority cishet male skate scene. “As far as I know, we are the first trans-owned shop and skatepark in the world,” Waters humbly concedes. He and the gender-expansive team that includes queer, trans, and nonbinary staff intentionally create a welcoming space for everyone—especially those who don’t always feel confident at public outdoor skateparks.
“Those spaces are just so important,” Waters says, “and I’m thankful for every one of them I got to be in. And hope that I can do a halfway decent job creating them for other people.”
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2024 here!