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Comment by mrnzc | Hacker News Reader

This is super interesting!

Also related: Desire Paths (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_path). Desire Paths are often shortcuts (people often optimize for nearest path) but sometimes people prefer a more scenic view, a less frequented route etc.

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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".

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.

Ohio State is one such example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DesirePath/comments/8nihbj/the_oval...

> 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.

When UC Davis was originally constructed they delayed paving until the desire paths appeared so they knew where to put them.

Lots of schools do this. You'll often hear college campus tour guides mention it to their groups.

Walking in NYC is the art of picking the most pleasant path. 10st across the villages is more pleasant than one block south or north, Henry St allows twice the rate of speed of walking on Canal.

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