Embarcadero · San Francisco · demolished January 2011
Hubba Hideout was a world-famous street skateboarding location situated near the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco, California, which originally featured a concrete pedestrian footbridge built during a mid-1950s urban renewal program. The structure consisted of two oversized sets of six concrete stairs flanked on both sides by large, unadorned cast-concrete ledges that sat against a backdrop of downtown commercial buildings.
The location earned its nickname because its secluded design made it a discreet gathering place for illicit substance use, using the regional Bay Area street slang word “hubba” for crack cocaine. Skateboarders began utilizing the unique concrete ledges in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the global media exposure of the spot eventually turned the word “hubba” into a standard international skateboarding term used to describe any concrete ledge that runs down alongside a set of stairs.
Over the years, the city of San Francisco made numerous structural modifications to deter skateboarding at the site, including the installation of dirt gaps and L-shaped metal brackets known as “skate stoppers,” before city workers completely demolished the pedestrian walkway, stairs, and ledges permanently in January 2011.