Evan Smith parks his car underneath the Bloomfield Bridge, on a slice of asphalt between a basketball court and a baseball field. His gray Honda CR-V seems more fitting for harried parents than a 26-year-old dude known as skateboarding’s psychedelic scarecrow.

For Smith, a professional skateboarder, anything can become his next element: a handrail, a wall, a staircase or, indeed, an SUV. With the trunk open, Smith kicks his skateboard into the air, slides along the top of the bumper and sticks the landing.

When he’s on the road, as he is most of the year, Smith is shooting skateboarding videos in Barcelona, touring Australia with his sponsors and, on occasion, getting arrested, most memorably in Hong Kong.

When he’s home in Pittsburgh, Smith spends his days at Constellation Coffee in Lawrenceville, skates in Polish Hill and Downtown, plays golf at Pittsburgh National and watches open mics at Mr. Smalls, the Millvale music venue where he lives with his aunt and uncle.

Ranking skateboarders is subjective and, in Smith’s view, against the spirit of skating, which he views as an art form. Still, it is inarguable that Smith, from his perch at Mr. Smalls, has carved out a spot atop the skating world. Thrasher Magazine, the industry’s leading publication, has described him as “one of the most gifted skaters ever,” and he was a finalist for Thrasher’s 2016 Skater of the Year. He has major sponsorships from Element and DC Shoes, his own line of sneakers and 104,000 followers on Instagram.

Smith’s local profile may be relatively low-key compared with Pittsburgh’s other star athletes, but his skating videos, called “parts,” make waves in the industry. Speed, air, creativity, a willingness to try anything: These are the hallmarks of Smith’s style. In a recent release, he skated toward a large window, launched into the air, flipped his board, mashed it against the window, slid down a few yards and landed, cat-like, on his feet.

When it comes to skateboarding, Pittsburgh doesn’t have the reputation of Los Angeles or Barcelona, cities known for their smooth surfaces and big skating scenes. But as a teenager on his way to stardom, Smith moved here from Florida, and he hasn’t looked back.

In Pittsburgh, he’s rebuilt a skatepark, renovated a music venue, joined a family band and made his home. He could do the skating everywhere else.

“That move was probably the most crucial move of my entire career and my development as a man,” he said.

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