10 Skateboarders Obsessed With Carving Up Their Hometown

More often than not, skaters are a product of their environment—the city, the spots, and the scene help to shape people into the skaters they are today. Most professionals move to California then travel all over the world in search of inspiration. And despite a world of new cities and places to explore, a handful of skaters look to their hometown to drive them.

These 10 skaters see their hometowns as a place where their passion can thrive and grow—the place that fuels their obsession. Their names are synonymous with their hometowns. As influential pros, they are shaping their cities and their scenes the way their city and its scene shaped them so many years ago.

Hometown: Kansas City, Mo.

Sean Malto is one of the best skaters in the world, and he lives in Kansas City—far away from the skateboard industry in California. Why? Because Kansas City fuels his drive for skateboarding. If not for Kansas City and Escapist Skateshop, Malto may not have become the household name he is today.

As a kid, Sean moved around as an Army brat before settling in Fort Leavenworth near Kansas City. It was there that he got hooked up with Escapist Skateshop, who shepherded him into the professional world of skateboarding, assisting in obtaining sponsors and steering him in the right direction. Malto still lives in Kansas City and even has a private skatepark there. It is not uncommon to see Malto at Escapist behind the counter setting up a board and hanging out with his friends at the shop.

Hometown: Boston

Boston has produced its fair share of pro skaters, like PJ Ladd, Ryan Gallant, Zered Bassett, and Eli Reed, and those are just from the roster of current professionals. Something about Boston brings out the best in Reed. The relatively untouched spots, his friends, and an obsession with getting tricks where he grew up bring him back. Every video part he films features at least a few tricks in and around his hometown of Boston.

Hometown: Richmond, Va.

It is difficult to point out exactly what about Richmond makes it a great city for skateboarding. The winter is cold, the summer is hot, and the spots are rough. But the scene is thriving and that fuels Gilbert Crockett’s one obsession with skateboarding and keeps bringing him back.

Surrounded by friends who work full-time and skate just as hard, Crockett found inspiration in Richmond. The spots may not be perfect, but they look good on film and have proved to be the right setting for Gilbert to become one of the most exciting skaters riding today.

Hometown: Washington, D.C.

No American city has more marble per square mile than Washington, D.C., and the high density of skate spots fuels Bobby Worrest’s obsession with street skating. Worrest was lucky enough to grow up skating D.C.’s Pulaski Park, where he honed his ledge tech skills.

Worrest travels all around the world to skate and film, yet D.C. still draws him back. He filmed his entire Hometown Turf Killer part there for Krooked Skateboards. The Wall Street Journal even joined Worrest at Pulaski for an article about skating during the government shutdown. Real street skating is hard work, and D.C. keeps Worrest inspired to keep pushing.

Hometown: Atlanta

Early on, Grant Taylor earned the nickname “Grantlanta” for his lifelong affiliation with his home city. From grinding big rails downtown to blasting huge airs at the local park, Atlanta pushed Grant Taylor to be one of the most exciting all terrain skaters ever.

To this day, he lives with his father in a house that boasts an ever-expanding concrete bowl out back. The bowl is the perfect place for Grant to push his obsession with going big and it keeps driving him to go further.

Hometown: Portland, Ore.

No one is a product of his city quite like Willis Kimbel, who grew up in Portland, where big transition park skating runs deep. Now that he is a pro, a move to California will likely be the next step, but Portland will always drive his passion.

Burnside is one of the most unforgiving and recognizable skateparks in the world, and Kimbel consistently finds new lines and blasts bigger than anyone else. Portland’s rain and gloom may scare many people away, but Burnside acts as a motivator for Kimbel to get down when the time is right.

Hometown: Copenhagen

Copenhagen was one of the few cities in Europe with a vert ramp in the late ’80s and that is what set the stage for Rune Glifberg’s one obsession with vert skating. While most skaters focused on the street outside their door, Glifberg had access to a vert ramp and could not shake the feeling of going fast and catching air. The vert ramp is the place that drives his passion.

His recent In Transition part for The Berrics was filmed entirely at Copenhagen’s Fælledparken Skatepark, a park he had a hand in designing and building with his Copenhagen-based company, Glifberg+Lykke.

Hometown: Ventspils, Latvia

Latvia is not the kind of place where skateboarding thrives, but their first pro skater ever is representing his country well. The city council of Ventspils helped Madars travel and follow his dream of becoming a pro skater.

To return the favor, he put the town on his first pro graphic. He returns to the city and Riga, Latvia’s capital, to advocate for skateboarding and skateparks on a regular basis, and he helped build a new skatepark in 2012.

Hometown: Glendale, Ariz.

The water handling systems in Glendale and the rest of Arizona have created a maze of ditches and tunnels that serve as a skatepark for those willing to work for it. John Motta’s obsession with exploring and skating these places made his recent part in A Happy Medium 3 one of the most exciting of 2014. With special clothing and equipment, Motta scouted locations for unique tricks only possible in his hometown’s drainage system.

Hometown: Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the place to be for skateboarding. Eric Koston’s one obsession with progression has him constantly upping himself at famous L.A. spots with every video part that he produces. And while every spot in L.A. is a measuring stick for a skater’s skills, the place that keeps Koston coming back and drives him for more is Lockwood Elementary School. Known as a classic L.A. skate spot for the greats, you can find Koston there executing at the highest mark to which everyone else aspires.