‘That left only one print mag in Canada and they wouldn’t print any of my photos.’
Nathan Stripp
Neighbourhood
Canada
Can you tell me something about Toronto no one knows?
Well, Neighbourhood mag is actually based in Mississauga, not Toronto. Mississauga is a suburb on the west side of Toronto. I think that’s something most people don’t know, as I imagine outside of Canada no one knows that Mississauga exists.
What triggered the idea to start a printed publication?
I started shooting skate photos around spring 2015. Prior to this Canada had 3 skate mags (Concrete skateboarding, SBC, and King Shit). I might be slightly off on the dates but that year Concrete Skateboarding was bought out by King Shit mag and was never done anything with. Later the same year SBC went bankrupt and closed down. That left only one print mag in Canada and they wouldn’t print any of my photos. I had a friend that was working at a print shop at the time, and my wife knew how to use indesign from her journalism background, so with help from both of them I started Neighbourhood Skate mag. The mag was put together during the winter of 2016/2017, and our official mag release for the first issue was May 2017.
You published 3 issues the past 4 years. How difficult is it to fill pages with your local scope in and around Toronto?
My formula is to shoot photos during the year and put the mag together the following winter (since in Canada we can’t do much skating outside during winter). The mag usually comes out the following spring/summer. I also try to get submissions from other photographers once I start putting the mag together. Since I shoot most of the photos it’s just a matter of how much I get out that year. Sometimes life gets in the way and I miss a year.
Do you allow contributions from outside Mississauga or even Canada?
I always try to get contributions from across Canada. The mag is distributed across the country so I think its important to try to represent skating across the whole country as best as we can. Earlier issues I would get some international submissions, but more recently anything international is coming from Canadian skaters living abroad.
‘The toughest part is breaking through and making that initial connection.’
Which brand deserves a shoutout supporting Neighbourhood?
Supra distribution Mehrathon trading have been very supportive, regularly taking premium ad space and supporting the mag distribution to shops. Also Brixton, Globe, and Skull Candy have been taking out ads constantly the last few years. Our friends at Philly’s hardware, Hazard Skateboard, and Driveway Skateshop are smaller companies that have been consistent advertisers as well. We deeply appreciate all of our ad sponsors, whether they are one off or recurring advertisers.
How different is your mag compared to other Canadian skatemags like SBC and King Shit?
Every mag has its own style. I think we have the most amount of content per issue. The last issue was 124 pages including the cover. We focus on quality and don’t cut corners on mag production, every issue is on premium paper, PUR perfect bound binding, etc.
Is there anything you would not print from a content or ad perspective?
I don’t like to use low quality photos (out of focus, bad exposure, bad composition, boring subject matter, etc). And no skatepark content. I get a lot of people email me skatepark photos wanting them to be published. But with that being said I’m pretty open to different types of content. We mainly focus on the Canadian skate scene.
Which issue stands out the most and why?
There is 2 phases of Neighbourhood Mag. For Vol.1 to Vol.3 I will call that the first phase of the mag, where I was figuring out how to make a mag. It was less pages, different paper, and saddle stitched during those early mags. From Vol.4 onward I began working with our Art Director (Shoutout Tryan Servinis) and really started to focus on building more of a consistent visual identity for the mags, and upped the print quality with more pages, better paper, and perfect bound spine. If I had to pick one favourite I would say Vol.4, because it’s the start of the second phase I mentioned above. I also really like that cover, with the Mississauga City Hall clock tower in the background.
What are you plans with Neighbourhood?
We are working on a full length video that is coming out with the upcoming issue. Aiming for late 2026 or early 2027 for that, which is also the 10 year anniversary since our first issue. It’s a big milestone with all those three things coming together. Nothing is set yet but hopefully there will be a special release event.
‘And no skatepark content.’
What is the local skate scene like compared to Vancouver and Montreal?
Skate scene in my area is good. Toronto has tons of spots. The ones downtown Toronto financial district are very challenging to skate with the security presence. And there is a lot of rough spots from the Canadian winters. Montreal is great, I think its more European feel. Lot’s of good plaza style spots to skate with perfect granite ledges. Skateboarding is more blended into the street culture there if that makes sense. And Vancouver I think is a lot smaller of a city, and a lot of stuff is capped. Seems like everyone hangs out at plaza, Terry fox or the art gallery for the most part. It’s been about 10 years since I have been to Vancouver and when I was there it wasn’t a skate trip, so I didn’t check out many spots.
Last question. If you could interview one person?
I would love to interview Brandon del Bianco for the mag. That guy is a Mississauga/Toronto legend. If you take a serious inventory of the gnarliest stuff ever done at various Toronto street spots, that guy is at the top, right there with TJ rogers. But Brandon left skateboarding before his career ever really got started I feel like. He could have gone way further with it, but he stopped skating and focused on other stuff. I think it would be awesome to interview him and get his perspective now that he’s older and get him to talk about his old skate days. I’ve tried to reach out to him butI think he just has no interest. Brandon, if you are out there reading this hit me up!