As entire blocks of the city fall to the whims of developers, old-school Santa Monica survives inside one of the world’s oldest skate shops.
Opened on April Fools Day in 1978 by two polar-opposite cousins, Rip City Skates has ridden the various waves of modern skateboarding in Los Angeles since the early days of skating.
From the time that they sold their first skateboard to now, the skate industry has evolved tremendously and so has Santa Monica.
But against all odds, Rip City has remained the same.
Today, nearly every inch of the walls in this shack-like store are plastered with skateboards, photos, and other skateboard memorabilia, some of which is as old as the shop itself.