Originally Posted by JR97
Great post. Only thing I'd disagree on is the heel brake. There's more control and stopping power doing a simple T-stop/skate drag. Learn to do it with either foot and you're in good shape compared to the small surface area of a heel brake that is typically only on one skate. Both the college campuses I attended were very hilly and I had no problems controlling speed or stopping relatively quickly on the sometimes crowded walkways with the t-stop/drag. The caveat is wheel wear.
Good point. I don't use a brake and I guess if you start skating without a brake you will learn a T-stop soon enough. The caveat you mentioned can be expensive so I might favor the heel brake because a brake pad is a lot cheaper than a set of wheels.
Or how about this idea?
http://www.inlineplanet.com/2007-04/skate_shoe.html