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Re:Desirable streets: where do people prefer to walk? by leetcrew on Thursday February 04, 2021 @12:35PM (#26027652)
I discovered the concept of desire paths in college and found it very interesting at the time. it flips the narrative of "these inconsiderate kids keep walking on the grass!" to "these landscape architects failed to anticipate how students would use the space where they live and work".
Re:Desirable streets: where do people prefer to walk? by coreyisthename on Thursday February 04, 2021 @01:18PM (#26028168)
If you ever need to find a desire path, for whatever reason, the first place to go is any college campus/quad.

Every corner is cut and all open spaces are crisscrossed with paths.

I remember seeing photos of some university - I can't remember where - that actually ripped up the old paths and paved over the desire paths, to great success.

Re:Desirable streets: where do people prefer to walk? by mikepurvis on Thursday February 04, 2021 @02:04PM (#26028631)
Re:Desirable streets: where do people prefer to walk? by blindm on Thursday February 04, 2021 @03:19PM (#26029323)
> I remember seeing photos of some university - I can't remember where - that actually ripped up the old paths and paved over the desire paths, to great success.

And when people do this: it makes the path a bit jarring since you intuitively know it's been designed that way for maximum efficiency and you are being 'played' in this subtle way.

Re:Desirable streets: where do people prefer to walk? by bregma on Thursday February 04, 2021 @03:34PM (#26029474)
When UC Davis was originally constructed they delayed paving until the desire paths appeared so they knew where to put them.
Re:Desirable streets: where do people prefer to walk? by sidpatil on Thursday February 04, 2021 @04:53PM (#26030229)
Lots of schools do this. You'll often hear college campus tour guides mention it to their groups.