World famous for his athletic and philanthropic achievements, Encinitas resident Tony Hawk is still a local boy at heart.

Just say the name “Tony Hawk” and most of America knows exactly who you’re talking about. The skateboarding legend has been deemed the most recognizable sports figure to today’s youth in a national survey, and it’s easy to see why. He became the world’s greatest skater at age 16 and has ruled the extreme sports world for the last few decades, most notably for landing the first 900 at the 1999 X Games. At 41, he still skates daily and stays busy running his empire, Tony Hawk, Inc. (THI), from its headquarters in Vista. His celebrity status has brought him White House and red carpet invites, commercials, movie and television roles, endorsements, a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood—well, you get the idea.

But beyond all the fame and fortune, the Encinitas resident is truly just a local boy at heart. He attended San Dieguito and Torrey Pines high schools (even though his family moved to Carlsbad), and became a fixture at the local skate parks. “Growing up, I was at the skate park after school until dark or later every day,” he says. “I loved the challenge of it. You can’t learn everything, and there will always be something new to try.”

Hawk has always been an innovator, constantly creating new tricks and trying to reach milestones. “I love that it’s artistic and athletic, and it’s also a collective effort to progress,” he adds. “There are certain milestones [skaters] have in mind, so when someone makes that mark, everyone else is excited for skating in general. I love the camaraderie even though it’s an individual sport.”

That progressive nature has helped make Hawk’s company what it is today. Under the THI umbrella are video games, skateboards and bikes, the Boom Boom HuckJam Tour (a choreographed skateboard, BMX and motocross exhibition), clothing and shoes, a film production company, and a weekly radio show on Sirius Satellite radio. Hawk has even written a best-selling autobiography, Tony Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder.

The self-proclaimed techie has always stayed on the cutting edge, ready to welcome the next opportunity that comes his way. Perhaps the biggest milestone for THI in 2009 is the Nov. 17 release of the video game Tony Hawk: RIDE, which features a snazzy skate deck with motion-sensing technology that allows players to pull tricks like a pro, right in their own living room. “This new video game—I’m so out of my mind excited about. I thought of it a while ago, but I knew the technology wasn’t out there yet.”

Hawk’s kids keep the test game in their bedroom and have already put it to good use. Riley, 16, is following in his father’s footsteps, even creating tricks of his own. “He’s going to be a better skater than me—no doubt,” Hawk says proudly. His bunch also includes sons Spencer, 10, and Keegan, 8, and daughter Kadence, 15 months, with wife Lhotse. Lhotse’s background is in extreme sports as well, having cofounded the International Free Skiers Association. The pair met several years ago while she was doing public relations work for ESPN, and they married in 2006. “She loves the adventure of it as much as I do,” he says. “We met on the road, and we haven’t stopped moving since then.”

When Hawk travels, he tries to do everything at once, doubling up his events with foundation work. In fact, it may be his foundation work that he is most proud of, combining his two greatest passions: skateboarding and children.

The Tony Hawk Foundation has given money to more than 400 skate park projects across the country in low-income, inner-city areas; so far, 319 parks have opened, catering to about 2.9 million youth. That’s impressive. “If you look at skate parks, they’re in use sunup to sundown, and usually it’s crowded,” he says. “You see empty baseball fields all day long—even basketball and tennis courts. They just don’t get as much use as a skate park.”

One of his proudest moments of 2009 was the opening of a skate park in Compton, the notoriously gang-ridden city in Los Angeles County. “The next great pro skater could be from Compton because they have this place provided for them,” he says. “Even though we have over 400 skate parks, this one was close to my heart. I think it opened up people’s eyes to what we’re actually doing out there.”

Hawk believes skateboarding should have an acceptance factor equal to traditional sports. “If kids don’t find their place in mainstream sports, they’re not inspired. Growing up, skateboarding was an outcast activity. When I went to Torrey Pines High School, I had to hide my board,” he says with a laugh.

Hawk is still hiding boards, but all for fun these days. He has one of the largest followings on the social network Twitter with more than 1.5 million people following his daily postings and free giveaways (twitter.com/tonyhawk). One of his favorite things to do is to hide one of his Birdhouse skateboards or HuckJam bikes along a street somewhere in north county, tweet the location, and see how quickly someone can find it and tweet back.

“People think it’s a grand marketing tool, but I just do it for fun,” he says. “I couldn’t believe how many people are following me on Twitter, so one day I decided to drop a skateboard off Palomar Airport Road and post the location on Twitter.” By the time he had driven to his office 10 minutes later, he’d received a tweet with a picture of a girl holding the skateboard.

Hawk has definitely developed quite a following and is a hero and role model to millions of youngsters like the ones benefiting from his fun giveaways. In fact, during our interview at one of his favorite local surf spots, a mom walking by stopped to talk to him.

“I just wanted to thank you for being a great role model for my son,” she said. “I’m not thrilled about all the emergency room trips [from skating], but I’m thankful because it got him out of gangs. Skateboarding has given him a more positive way to spend his down time.”

And while Hawk is a hero to many, he has a hero of his own—legendary cyclist and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. When Armstrong invited him to be a founding member of Athletes for Hope along with other A-list sports figures such as Muhammad Ali and Andre Agassi, he jumped at the chance. They help fellow professional athletes get involved in charities and support each others’ causes to make an even bigger impact.

One of Hawk’s most humbling experiences was visiting a pediatric oncology ward with Armstrong. “When Lance walked in, it was amazing to feel the energy among the kids and staff,” he recounts. “When we sat down at lunch I told him how humbling it was for me to see the impact he’s had—being the face of cancer awareness, and I’m trying to raise money for people to pour cement for kids to roll around on. But that day he told me that the number-one cause of cancer in children today is obesity. He said, ‘You’re getting them active, and in turn preventing cancer.’ I’m helping kids be healthy. That was the most validating thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Once you begin to grasp all that Hawk has accomplished, it’s hard to think of anything else there is to achieve. “I just take it day by day,” he says. “I’ve never put huge goals in front of me, but I don’t rest on previous accolades either. I just like seeing what could happen—how far we can take this.

What Tony Hawk Loves about Encinitas

Up until five years ago, Hawk resided in Carlsbad, where he also spent his teen years. His current home in Encinitas is a little more off the beaten path. “In Carlsbad, my house was too high profile and too many people were coming by—no sense of privacy. Where I live now, no one happens by. I love Carlsbad, but this property that came up, it was too perfect to pass up.”

Hawk loves Encinitas’ small-town vibe. And for a coffee lover, it’s the perfect place to be. Whether it’s the local Starbucks or the corner coffee shop, he’s gotta have his daily fuel up. “I love stopping by places like Pannikin and always seeing people you know.”

But watch out for Hawk on the Coast Highway 101. A recent NASCAR gig with Jimmie Johnson got him hooked on a need for speed. “It inspired me to modify my Jeep so it has a turbocharged HEMI with 620 horsepower,” he admits with a smile. “Not that I’m NASCAR-ing around, but I have the juice if I need it.”

Hawk also found a fun, nearby place to entertain his kids. “I’ve discovered that La Costa Resort is a great place to go for the day. It’s like a vacation at home, and the kids love the slides.”

He loves to surf (on a short board, of course) and enjoys being able to pull out of his driveway and head straight west to hit the waves in Encinitas and South Carlsbad. “When Swami’s gets good, it’s a complete madhouse.”