It's an interesting study in human psychology. If you don't want the desire path you need to design your path so that it's enticing to the people. A few of the intended paths look like they were designed to go around obstacles that are now long gone.
I saw a picture of an university. They built the buildings but didn't put any sidewalks in. After a year or two they saw all the paths, that's where they poured the siidewalks. Good planning.
Embry Riddle in Daytona had sidewalks along the road but not building to building. After a couple years they put sidewalks where we had walked. A couple years later they had to do it again to all the new paths. I always joked if we went back in 20 years all the grass would be gone replaced with cement
I had an Architecture mentor tell me to always do sidewalks last. Landscape, plant grass, etc., then wait. People will tell you where the sidewalks belong.
the university of Maryland did that back when it was being made. They waited a few seasons to see where people walked and then made the routes into walkways.
@@Servergmr Good question. When I was in college, accessibility didn't have the focus it does today. Back then, most likely the person helping them would turn it around backward and pull it. Now, an "off-road" chair would work. Neither are a great solution, but both are answers to your question.
@@norsefalconer Indeed both are, because some people like to be somewhat independent I guess. I've seen people in wheelchairs alone and rolling themselves on the sidewalks.
Our local council parks department kept on re-grassing a desire path that cut diagonally across a small rectangular lawn on the corner of two busy roads They did it for years, waging a war against the public for not doing as they are told. I'm sure they wept tears of frustration, but they were always going to lose.
@@Paragon13 well in some cases it is kinda our duty to do this. a few white collars should not decide what the people want. you should see what they did in my town. they decided to put wierd small rounded flower beds on the side of the street every 100 m or so. you really need to be careful at night not to hit them with your bike at night. they are very hard to see at places when your middle age+ . i pretty much need to ride almost in the middle of the car lane to be sure.
Most of the designed pathways are the result of what I call bookbrains. About 25 years ago they built a new apartment complex on the north side of town. They built the buildings with sidewalks around the perimeter of the buildings and the parking lots, but no other sidewalks. A year later they came back and finished the contract by building sidewalks along the paths that the tenets made as they walked around. Narrow paths got regular sidewalks and wide paths got wider sidewalks. And the ends of all of the sidewalks flared out at the ends just like the paths did. To this day there are no "desired" paths in the landscaping. That is what I call an example of humanbrains.
The landscape crew at my university put up a sign saying "Do not cut corners" to prevent people from crossing the grass. The next day someone had cut the corners off the sign.
I like how a lot of these paths have a very clear _intended_ route, while the footpaths bear testament to the human tendency to avoid resistance. "We've got places to go, and that is _not_ the way to get there."
0:11 - I'm the one who tramples grass instead of walking on the paved sidewalk. It's not about "further away from the road". It's about less pain. At some point in life each and every step became painful, and minimizing pain became paramount. Asphalt less painful than concrete and granite, grass less painful than asphalt, sand the best of all. Curiously, after living twenty years with debilitating spinal hernias I developed and survived blood cancer, and one of the (most welcome) side effects was that the hernias almost dissolved and now I can walk almost like a healthy person. But the old pain aversion reflexes persist.
Wow, congrats on the blood cancer win. And I hear ya about the pain - terrible knees here and anything to get their faster and less painful is a welcome sight.
Pretty disrespectful. Don’t use your disability as an excuse. Cuz when I’m in pain you won’t welcome me waddling through your living room, will you? Go around or don’t go. You’re not special, you’re just disabled. I’ve been sicker longer, since we’re justifying our actions that way.
I get the feeling many of those half circle sidewalks used to have a tree there, only to have it removed for some reason. What I don't get is that one from Australia with the flat switchback.
People cut sensible paths, planners should design according to those. This also goes for where people consistently cross roads where they shouldn't, you should mske the traffic lights, bumps and prevention measure there, not try to put up a fence. It will come down and people will keep crossing in unsafe conditions.
Except when it comes to a triangular side walk, and they use the hypotenuse. Remember A^2+B^2=C^2? It's the same length. Unless I've been assuming the use of that formula wrong this whole time?!?
There’s a phenomenon that always happens on muddy trails. People walk in the grass to get around the mud, until the new path becomes devoid of grass and also turns to mud. Then another one forms going even farther to the side.
I know there is a bus terminal near my area where there is grass in between the parking lot and the bus stops, but the grass gets stepped on all the time to the point where it's just soil, and it gets muddy during the winter and rainy days. They closed off the area with a safety fence to and try and replant the grass, but people just destroyed the fence. Makes me wonder why they don't just pave a path instead of replanting grass that is gonna get stepped on anyways.
A lot of places require that businesses keep a certain amount of greenery. Those little patches of grass may have been all that they could grow in that kind of space.
@@condor7964 not quite. It would usually be found in local zoning ordinances. Occasionally, it would be found in a deal with the local government to get their permit granted.
A university in this province, installed no paved walk ways, on a new campus area, for the first year. They then observed where people made their Desire Paths and paved those routes.
@@blechtic Not at all inbred hick. It's called not wasting time and resources. How THINGS like you make it to adulthood is beyond me but it is FUCKING SICKENING
I forget what game it was but there was a medieval city building game I played a few years back. You would place down buildings like normal but couldn't place roads or paths. They would appear over time as the NPCs would travel to and from their destinations over time creating natural pathways and roads. This instantly reminded me of it and now I have to go find it...
I love these. Our apartment complex had the nicest looking courtyard with a wide stone path between the buildings and a flag pole in the centre. Unfortunately, it didn’t go anywhere near where people wanted to go (the back door of the other building), so there it sat while people stomped through award-winning gardens.
Ya a lot of designers want to mandate a more scenic path to "captivate the minds of people" the next person to walk down it not only stares at there phone but even if they see what was desired to not only do most not care but walk it very regularly so the extended paths just be a total waste of time material and all forms of mental energy just do efficient engineering and call it a day bc people will take the path of least resistance anyway
Thankfully in the uk pathways are protected by law, anyone who tries to stop people from using a pathway can be taken to court. As these pathways in the uk have been used by our ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years. Like any country we have our faults, but things like this make me love my country.
Love your comments in the video. I remember one special desire path at my university. And at one time they just grew new grass on it and designed the old stone paths new- just to lose the new grass again to the same old desire path. When I visited the university again some years ago, I was happy to see, that they learned from their mistake and made the desire path an official path for people.
i took a break from death stranding and when i came back this week, the paths where i put down checkpoints every 100ft were well traveled with worn in foot paths from other players. the thing that surprised me the most is that not many people tried to take short cuts off my paths. i plotted the easiest path to walk, not the fastest, so cutting a corner would often mean wandering into enemy territory or something like that accidentally. and the entire time i was thinking about this because in my real life city there are worn in paths everywhere, since nobody cares about the artistic bullshit paths. straight lines everywhere. to be fair, some of "obviously shitty urban planning" everyone thinks every stupid sidewalk is, often times is doing what it does to avoid a water valve or something the city needs uncovered.
Urban city planers are completely disconnected from reality. It only they think grass magically block pedestrians and bikers like invisible wall in video games but also they are very weird in the design thinking it’s beautiful with the downscale model. They can’t stand straight line because they have twisted mind.
They think people will be like cars and stay on the designated pavement for them, going well out of their way to make turns because that’s where the road and curbing says to. Nope.
I believe that this is an example of Emergent Behaviour. When applied to urban design its called Emergent Urbanism. Instead of imposing a top-down design...you use a bottom-up approach. Emergent systems are fascinating. 👍
3:20 I bet they do after it rains to avoid slipping in the mud and falling on their butts. I went to an agricultural college that maintained various livestock. A path was being cut by the students crossing a big field to and from student housing and classroom buildings (it was substantially less distance than using the sidewalks.) The college didn’t like the path so they spread fresh pig manure along the path. We all just walked a foot or two to the left until the rain washed the manure away and we used the path again. The college never tried that method again while I was there.
The thing I remember from my university campus is that when desire paths that cut a corner across a wide open area got paved, a new desire path cutting the new corners would be created. More crossed paths = more corners cut short = more paving to prevent mud and what was meant to be a lawn with flower borders and plantings where you could sit in the sun to study or eat or run around playing games was turning into more like a paved lot. The enjoyable green space was being taken up by more and more paving. There was so much paving that paths leading directly across from building to building began to appear, which no one had bothered with back when it wasn’t so crowded. Part of the problem was that the student body had been expanded so much. This area was built between the American civil war and WW2, around previously wooded land that was partly cleared and lawned. But as the sheer volume of GI Bill and then baby boomer students entered the University and then the student body was expanded Even more by allowing women to attend, the pathways on this area just couldn’t handle the volume of people crossing each day. It’s funny how a similar sized area north of this, the original centre of the University didn’t have this happen. the much older buildings there were smaller, now used for admin and a few historic but tiny
The stone wall might be three feet tall, two feet wide.. just obnoxious enough not to step over. However they should have made it just a little 'more' obnoxious by rounding the top so sitting on it would become a little imbalanced. xD that's something I would do.
Am I the only one who visually enjoys seeing dirt paths meandering through a grass field? Walking on a nice dirt track makes me feel like I am walking through lovely green Shire from LOTR, while walking on some straight blocks of concrete cutting perfect geometrical shapes through a park makes me feel like I'm walking through some architect's plastic 3D model.
Beats me why someone would decide to go over mud and dirt to make the journey 1 meter shorter. Especially since cleaning shoes afterwards would take way longer.
No, it's different things Short cut is just using the shortest (not physical) path to get somewhere Desire path is a path that forms from people using the same path a lot because it's better than something "intended"
In college in the mid 70’s I remember learning of a new college campus that was built with no sidewalks. After a year or so, they paved the pathways that the students and faculty found most efficient. After I submitted this, I read the comments that were the same as mine.
In my street there's a tree that grows a bit too much on the paved path, people eventually got tired of leaning down to avoid branches so they started to walk around it, slowly creating a little path around the branches. It's been more than a year and no one thought it would be a good thing to trim the branches 😅
@@mmis1000 it's a tree that grows in a public parking lot, so it belongs to the town lol What's even worse is that there are people who are hired by the town hall to come and mow the lawn in this area, and no one thought to point out that the branches were in the way and that they needed to be trimmed...
When I was a kid we moved into a new house with only dirt and weeds in the backyard. In only a matter of months our one small dog wore a path inches deep in a long arc going from one gate on the side of the house to the other side.
It’s Japan. Nearly everyone breaks the rules. They just put great emphasis on “appearing” to not break the rules. In short, they care more about how something is perceived, rather than what it actually is. It’s why bullying is so common and so are hikkikomori. Appearances are all that matter in most of Japan.
Yes. Whether rules are followed depends on whether it inconveniences the community, whether people would judge you for it, and whether others also habitually break that rule. Many Japanese people will break rules. Example: jaywalking when there is zero traffic and no witnesses.
So the reason why desired paths in winter take longer to melt is because the snow and ice is so much more densely packed thus more resistant to heat due to lower surface area throughout. At my collage there is what we call the winter path and the summer path. Interestingly enough the winter path is about 2 feet to the left of the summer path. My reasoning is that once most of the snow melts in the park the winter path is often still not fully melted. So everyone walks beside it and get used to that path. But every winter they go back to making the more direct path in the snow again. There is also the chance that the summer path is more wet and icey since it is a trench
It can't be because of dripping. The sign would drip just as much where the desire path is. I've never heard of the superstition, but I can't explain it any other way.
Could be a place with a high density of pedestrians, where the majority are going in one direction and people often step off to the side when going the opposite direction. It's just way more frequent under that sign because everyone needs to detour there. Who knows
When a pedestrian walks on a path they tend to walk on one side or the other so people can get past, but put two posts either side and they will walk exactly in the middle taking up the whole path. A cyclist comes along just as the person decides they want to take up all the path blocking the cyclist who decides to just go around them to avoid stopping and waiting for them to get out the way, and a little path is created. Its not some bizarre superstition, just cyclists that hate stopping.
The one at 7:20 is probably a desire path because there's often cars idling in the way, waiting to be able to get onto the road. The path swerves so the pedestrian can walk behind the car. I've done that more times than I can remember, but it's usually rare to have grass where I walk. If it was more common I think there'd be a lot more of those exact same desire paths around
Thing is, walking on pavement is uncomfortable. I don't understand why so many of these paths are paved out when a simple dirt or gravel path is not only more comfortable to walk on, but also way more aesthetic.
@@Servergmr And lasts longer. Gravel gets washed away by rain eventually, grass grows through and so on. Pavement? You put it down once, and you're good for the next, like, 20 years minimum.
2:42 I would do one of two things: Just move the barricade to the sidewalk. Or, if im feeling particularly petty, walk around the baricades on the grass side
Anything from disability ada issues, to landowner complaints. Sometimes there was an obstacle like a tree and it was removed but the right of way for the path stays the same.
At my college there was a desire path people created by walking diagonally across a patch of grass. Instead of just paving it they put up a thick fence all the way around the grass and added threatening signs.
Where they are tells you more about the animals that directly observing them can sometimes. My favorite are raccoon paths-partway between the ridge and the bottom lands and likely to be flanked by berries.
3:33 Where I grew up we called desire paths "cow trails" whether it was actually formed by cows or not because it reminds us of the little roads that cows always make in their pastures.
7:52 this gate will be vandalized by three rails being sawed off, if someone determined enough was one in question using that hill. It will happen, eventually, unless said person moves away. People do factor in the effort versus reward.
A noted landscape architect was noted for designing very beautiful college landscapes and pathways. When asked about the designs, he stated he planted trees,, shrubs, and planted the rest in lawn. A year later, paved the paths based on the traffic patterns.
The planners at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver left paving any paths for one season. Then they just paved the paths people wore through the grass. Genius.
I like that they paved some of them. I think they forgot to make them wide enough though, so people had to form a second desire path right next to them. Don't forget that paving means MORE people will use that path! You can't just cover the bald bit, and call it a day. 🙂
@1:25 it's a wheelchair access ramp going up a hill, Z in order to provide a gentle slope for wheelies, but no allowance for the able-bodied so they make a shortcut themselves.
My university has three desire paths of note. One by the largest parking lot that eventually got properly paved and is used by nearly everyone. One by the engineering building that cuts across one of the lawns that just stays there, and one that used to exist that went through some trees that they put a rock through to stop people using.
It’s unfortunate that governments don’t give desire paths as much attention because they’re pretty interesting and can save them and their institutions a lot of money.
The UK RAF used to build airfields and supporting buildings without paths, wait for a year then build the paths were the grass had been worn away. They seem to have forgotten this trick now
It was interesting and funny!❤
It's an interesting study in human psychology. If you don't want the desire path you need to design your path so that it's enticing to the people. A few of the intended paths look like they were designed to go around obstacles that are now long gone.
I saw a picture of an university. They built the buildings but didn't put any sidewalks in. After a year or two they saw all the paths, that's where they poured the siidewalks. Good planning.
Must have been my Architecture mentor, or one of his deciples, lol.
Brilliant! Let traffic dictate where they go.
Wisconsin branch campus? i remember this from decades ago. (vet civil engineering student at U of Arkansas, 1977)
Embry Riddle in Daytona had sidewalks along the road but not building to building. After a couple years they put sidewalks where we had walked. A couple years later they had to do it again to all the new paths. I always joked if we went back in 20 years all the grass would be gone replaced with cement
I heard a version of that story many years ago. Now I know that "desire path" is the term for them.
I had an Architecture mentor tell me to always do sidewalks last. Landscape, plant grass, etc., then wait. People will tell you where the sidewalks belong.
the university of Maryland did that back when it was being made. They waited a few seasons to see where people walked and then made the routes into walkways.
Good tip. That also goes for some other things too.
Well, what about those in the wheelchairs?
@@Servergmr Good question. When I was in college, accessibility didn't have the focus it does today. Back then, most likely the person helping them would turn it around backward and pull it. Now, an "off-road" chair would work. Neither are a great solution, but both are answers to your question.
@@norsefalconer Indeed both are, because some people like to be somewhat independent I guess. I've seen people in wheelchairs alone and rolling themselves on the sidewalks.
Our local council parks department kept on re-grassing a desire path that cut diagonally across a small rectangular lawn on the corner of two busy roads
They did it for years, waging a war against the public for not doing as they are told. I'm sure they wept tears of frustration, but they were always going to lose.
All they had to do was put a raised flowerbed there. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if people retaliated by walking through the flowers.
@@Paragon13 well in some cases it is kinda our duty to do this. a few white collars should not decide what the people want. you should see what they did in my town. they decided to put wierd small rounded flower beds on the side of the street every 100 m or so. you really need to be careful at night not to hit them with your bike at night. they are very hard to see at places when your middle age+ . i pretty much need to ride almost in the middle of the car lane to be sure.
that council is actively against the people.
Most of the designed pathways are the result of what I call bookbrains.
About 25 years ago they built a new apartment complex on the north side of town. They built the buildings with sidewalks around the perimeter of the buildings and the parking lots, but no other sidewalks. A year later they came back and finished the contract by building sidewalks along the paths that the tenets made as they walked around. Narrow paths got regular sidewalks and wide paths got wider sidewalks. And the ends of all of the sidewalks flared out at the ends just like the paths did. To this day there are no "desired" paths in the landscaping.
That is what I call an example of humanbrains.
The landscape crew at my university put up a sign saying "Do not cut corners" to prevent people from crossing the grass. The next day someone had cut the corners off the sign.
I like how a lot of these paths have a very clear _intended_ route, while the footpaths bear testament to the human tendency to avoid resistance.
"We've got places to go, and that is _not_ the way to get there."
0:11 - I'm the one who tramples grass instead of walking on the paved sidewalk. It's not about "further away from the road". It's about less pain. At some point in life each and every step became painful, and minimizing pain became paramount. Asphalt less painful than concrete and granite, grass less painful than asphalt, sand the best of all.
Curiously, after living twenty years with debilitating spinal hernias I developed and survived blood cancer, and one of the (most welcome) side effects was that the hernias almost dissolved and now I can walk almost like a healthy person. But the old pain aversion reflexes persist.
Wow, congrats on the blood cancer win. And I hear ya about the pain - terrible knees here and anything to get their faster and less painful is a welcome sight.
Pretty disrespectful. Don’t use your disability as an excuse. Cuz when I’m in pain you won’t welcome me waddling through your living room, will you? Go around or don’t go. You’re not special, you’re just disabled. I’ve been sicker longer, since we’re justifying our actions that way.
@@purselmer5931do you wander across freeways? Not your property, not your choice.
@@whatifschrodingersboxwasacofin Yeah, b/c that's a valid example of what this is about. LMAO
Also, to avoid huge puddles!!!
2:00 looks as though the sidewalk was originally routed around a tree which was later removed.
There's a few of those in my neighbourhood.
Ideally it should be seen as a good excuse to plant a new tree. We desperately need more trees in our urban environment.
I get the feeling many of those half circle sidewalks used to have a tree there, only to have it removed for some reason. What I don't get is that one from Australia with the flat switchback.
I suspect there was a tree, sign post, lamp post or similar in most of those cases.
People cut sensible paths, planners should design according to those. This also goes for where people consistently cross roads where they shouldn't, you should mske the traffic lights, bumps and prevention measure there, not try to put up a fence. It will come down and people will keep crossing in unsafe conditions.
Wouldn't call it desire paths but rather: logic paths.
The shortest route with the least effort is always prefered.
Yep. In other words “a short cut.”
Unless you have a dog and need exercise, then you want every walk to be an adventure.
Energy Sensitive
Except when it comes to a triangular side walk, and they use the hypotenuse. Remember A^2+B^2=C^2? It's the same length. Unless I've been assuming the use of that formula wrong this whole time?!?
yeah look at this one 4:36
The stubbornness of some urban planners is almost heroic.😂
Sure, if "heroic" = psychotic.
2:44 It would be funny if people start to go around the fence over the grass instead of following the dumb path.
I have found a lot of URBAN planners want to force people to use their paths.
no, just pathetic and stupid
There’s a phenomenon that always happens on muddy trails. People walk in the grass to get around the mud, until the new path becomes devoid of grass and also turns to mud. Then another one forms going even farther to the side.
So paths meander, like rivers?
This is an example to distinguish desired paths from absurd paths.
Sometimes laying down gravel through the mud fixes the whole issue.
I know there is a bus terminal near my area where there is grass in between the parking lot and the bus stops, but the grass gets stepped on all the time to the point where it's just soil, and it gets muddy during the winter and rainy days. They closed off the area with a safety fence to and try and replant the grass, but people just destroyed the fence. Makes me wonder why they don't just pave a path instead of replanting grass that is gonna get stepped on anyways.
A lot of places require that businesses keep a certain amount of greenery. Those little patches of grass may have been all that they could grow in that kind of space.
@@ianbelletti6241 Even businesses get an HOA, lol.
@@condor7964 not quite. It would usually be found in local zoning ordinances. Occasionally, it would be found in a deal with the local government to get their permit granted.
4:36 To be fair, the desire line is still under the sign though.
That's what I was thinking XD. Fr britain moment
They didn't word it well. British people don't walk between the posts of the sign. Especially if the posts are black.
@@dazzle96 that's racist
@@nahuelma97 nope. Its just true. British people don't like walking through black posts
@@dazzle96 it was a joke mate, c'mon 😂😂 or course it's not actually racist 😂
I find those ‘c’ shaped sidewalk sections were poured when a large tree was there and never changed after it was removed.
A university in this province, installed no paved walk ways, on a new campus area, for the first year. They then observed where people made their Desire Paths and paved those routes.
Smart.
It's called not doing your job.
What about those in wheelchairs who need the smoothness of sidewalks?
@@Servergmrthey will follow the paved paths after they are paved.
@@blechtic Not at all inbred hick. It's called not wasting time and resources. How THINGS like you make it to adulthood is beyond me but it is FUCKING SICKENING
2:44 - If someone didn’t shift those barricades over to the paved sidewalk, I’d be very disappointed in humanity…
Honestly, I would walk even further to the left instead.
@ - that’s why you gotta block off the sidewalk, leaving the straight path clear
8:49 Trust me, that fence isn’t forcing anything.
I forget what game it was but there was a medieval city building game I played a few years back. You would place down buildings like normal but couldn't place roads or paths. They would appear over time as the NPCs would travel to and from their destinations over time creating natural pathways and roads. This instantly reminded me of it and now I have to go find it...
Civilisation?
maybe banished?
Never knew they were called desire paths, cute. Don’t know what they call them here in Australia 🤔
In the Netherlands we call them 'elephant paths'. 😊
I have always known them as goat tracks, but not sure how common that is. I am in WA
Probably 'bongasquatiuan droppings'.....
In Germany we call them tramp paths (Trampelpfad) or if they were made by animals we call them wilderness changes (Wildwechsel)
Yes i would call them that, Queensland here! @emceeboogieboots1608
I love these. Our apartment complex had the nicest looking courtyard with a wide stone path between the buildings and a flag pole in the centre.
Unfortunately, it didn’t go anywhere near where people wanted to go (the back door of the other building), so there it sat while people stomped through award-winning gardens.
Ya a lot of designers want to mandate a more scenic path to "captivate the minds of people" the next person to walk down it not only stares at there phone but even if they see what was desired to not only do most not care but walk it very regularly so the extended paths just be a total waste of time material and all forms of mental energy just do efficient engineering and call it a day bc people will take the path of least resistance anyway
Had to re-read that a couple times. No offense, but you gotta put some punctuation in there.
Thankfully in the uk pathways are protected by law, anyone who tries to stop people from using a pathway can be taken to court. As these pathways in the uk have been used by our ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years. Like any country we have our faults, but things like this make me love my country.
Hundreds of thousands of years?? Idiot.
This isn’t automatically true of all desire paths though.
We may not have easy social mobility, but by Jove do we have our Rambling Rights.
Love your comments in the video. I remember one special desire path at my university. And at one time they just grew new grass on it and designed the old stone paths new- just to lose the new grass again to the same old desire path. When I visited the university again some years ago, I was happy to see, that they learned from their mistake and made the desire path an official path for people.
i took a break from death stranding and when i came back this week, the paths where i put down checkpoints every 100ft were well traveled with worn in foot paths from other players. the thing that surprised me the most is that not many people tried to take short cuts off my paths. i plotted the easiest path to walk, not the fastest, so cutting a corner would often mean wandering into enemy territory or something like that accidentally. and the entire time i was thinking about this because in my real life city there are worn in paths everywhere, since nobody cares about the artistic bullshit paths. straight lines everywhere.
to be fair, some of "obviously shitty urban planning" everyone thinks every stupid sidewalk is, often times is doing what it does to avoid a water valve or something the city needs uncovered.
Urban city planers are completely disconnected from reality. It only they think grass magically block pedestrians and bikers like invisible wall in video games but also they are very weird in the design thinking it’s beautiful with the downscale model. They can’t stand straight line because they have twisted mind.
No. These are urban designers, they're often architects actually. Urban planning is something else.
@@moonhunter9993 whoever is not important. They suck at it and this nonsense should not be tolerated.
They think people will be like cars and stay on the designated pavement for them, going well out of their way to make turns because that’s where the road and curbing says to.
Nope.
@@NilZed1 they show how stupid they actually are.
Just made smoother turns ffs
Or put some shrubbery on the sides of the path if you really wanna deter people from going there.
No matter what you do, Humans will always take the shortest path even if they have to make it themselves
I believe that this is an example of Emergent Behaviour. When applied to urban design its called Emergent Urbanism. Instead of imposing a top-down design...you use a bottom-up approach. Emergent systems are fascinating. 👍
2:33 I'm surprised no one picked up and moved the barricade.
3:20 I bet they do after it rains to avoid slipping in the mud and falling on their butts.
I went to an agricultural college that maintained various livestock. A path was being cut by the students crossing a big field to and from student housing and classroom buildings (it was substantially less distance than using the sidewalks.) The college didn’t like the path so they spread fresh pig manure along the path. We all just walked a foot or two to the left until the rain washed the manure away and we used the path again. The college never tried that method again while I was there.
The thing I remember from my university campus is that when desire paths that cut a corner across a wide open area got paved, a new desire path cutting the new corners would be created. More crossed paths = more corners cut short = more paving to prevent mud and what was meant to be a lawn with flower borders and plantings where you could sit in the sun to study or eat or run around playing games was turning into more like a paved lot. The enjoyable green space was being taken up by more and more paving. There was so much paving that paths leading directly across from building to building began to appear, which no one had bothered with back when it wasn’t so crowded. Part of the problem was that the student body had been expanded so much. This area was built between the American civil war and WW2, around previously wooded land that was partly cleared and lawned. But as the sheer volume of GI Bill and then baby boomer students entered the University and then the student body was expanded Even more by allowing women to attend, the pathways on this area just couldn’t handle the volume of people crossing each day.
It’s funny how a similar sized area north of this, the original centre of the University didn’t have this happen. the much older buildings there were smaller, now used for admin and a few historic but tiny
The stone wall might be three feet tall, two feet wide.. just obnoxious enough not to step over. However they should have made it just a little 'more' obnoxious by rounding the top so sitting on it would become a little imbalanced. xD that's something I would do.
I just want to upvote these pictures. A lot of them are really beautiful!
Agreed.
r/desirepath
Am I the only one who visually enjoys seeing dirt paths meandering through a grass field? Walking on a nice dirt track makes me feel like I am walking through lovely green Shire from LOTR, while walking on some straight blocks of concrete cutting perfect geometrical shapes through a park makes me feel like I'm walking through some architect's plastic 3D model.
Natural Paths > Concrete and/or Asphalt Paths.
1:44 Thw paths formed a star!
Short cuts. They're called short cuts.
Yeah..... this went over your head didn't it?
Beats me why someone would decide to go over mud and dirt to make the journey 1 meter shorter. Especially since cleaning shoes afterwards would take way longer.
@@abyssstrider2547 These aren't carved when it's rainy and wet.
No, it's different things
Short cut is just using the shortest (not physical) path to get somewhere
Desire path is a path that forms from people using the same path a lot because it's better than something "intended"
@@xenird That's exactly what a short cut is. People are lazy.....they all prefer the shorter path (you might say they 'desire' it)
In college in the mid 70’s I remember learning of a new college campus that was built with no sidewalks. After a year or so, they paved the pathways that the students and faculty found most efficient.
After I submitted this, I read the comments that were the same as mine.
That sounds like Lake Forest College. They did exactly that while I was there in the early 70s.
Students protested by defecating on the path to the chancellor's car
4:35 ... You are still walking under the street sign xD
5:56 "I use this badboy all the time" xD
Many of them are especially cyclists' desire paths
Yes, can definitely can see the cyclist paths around the fences design to make them dismount
In my street there's a tree that grows a bit too much on the paved path, people eventually got tired of leaning down to avoid branches so they started to walk around it, slowly creating a little path around the branches. It's been more than a year and no one thought it would be a good thing to trim the branches 😅
Probably they don't know who own the tree though.
@@mmis1000 it's a tree that grows in a public parking lot, so it belongs to the town lol
What's even worse is that there are people who are hired by the town hall to come and mow the lawn in this area, and no one thought to point out that the branches were in the way and that they needed to be trimmed...
When I was a kid we moved into a new house with only dirt and weeds in the backyard. In only a matter of months our one small dog wore a path inches deep in a long arc going from one gate on the side of the house to the other side.
I’ve never noticed them. But, now, I’ll search for them and walk through them. 😅
The Japanese one surprised me. I thought they never break the rules.
Looks like you know little about Japan.
It’s Japan. Nearly everyone breaks the rules. They just put great emphasis on “appearing” to not break the rules. In short, they care more about how something is perceived, rather than what it actually is. It’s why bullying is so common and so are hikkikomori.
Appearances are all that matter in most of Japan.
@@XxTaiMTxX Just like I pretend I never cross on red light even when there's 0 traffic
Yes. Whether rules are followed depends on whether it inconveniences the community, whether people would judge you for it, and whether others also habitually break that rule. Many Japanese people will break rules. Example: jaywalking when there is zero traffic and no witnesses.
Good jobe mate! I rarely watch similar videos in full. I did yours with smile and satisfaction all the way, no desire paths :)
So the reason why desired paths in winter take longer to melt is because the snow and ice is so much more densely packed thus more resistant to heat due to lower surface area throughout. At my collage there is what we call the winter path and the summer path. Interestingly enough the winter path is about 2 feet to the left of the summer path. My reasoning is that once most of the snow melts in the park the winter path is often still not fully melted. So everyone walks beside it and get used to that path. But every winter they go back to making the more direct path in the snow again. There is also the chance that the summer path is more wet and icey since it is a trench
0:59, That just looks like some random trail in the wilderness, I don't see the original path.
1:16 funny looking cat
1:26 That's probably a handicap ramp. In America, they can't be too steep or else they violate ADA policy. I'm assuming the same is true in Australia.
Yeah can’t be more than 1:12 slope at least in the US
Still should have stairs on the straightaway though.
3:19 Now THAT"S graffiti!
4:32. There is no 'UK superstition' about walking under a street sign. Ladders - Yes. Street sign is probably always dripping wet.
In any case, the path *does not* avoid walking under the sign.
It can't be because of dripping. The sign would drip just as much where the desire path is. I've never heard of the superstition, but I can't explain it any other way.
Oh I've heard of that superstition. I never walk under signs or scaffolding
Could be a place with a high density of pedestrians, where the majority are going in one direction and people often step off to the side when going the opposite direction. It's just way more frequent under that sign because everyone needs to detour there. Who knows
When a pedestrian walks on a path they tend to walk on one side or the other so people can get past, but put two posts either side and they will walk exactly in the middle taking up the whole path. A cyclist comes along just as the person decides they want to take up all the path blocking the cyclist who decides to just go around them to avoid stopping and waiting for them to get out the way, and a little path is created.
Its not some bizarre superstition, just cyclists that hate stopping.
At one of the Air Force bases, no sidewalks were put in until the troops made their own paths to know where they needed to go.
the simple need to touch grass
The one at 7:20 is probably a desire path because there's often cars idling in the way, waiting to be able to get onto the road. The path swerves so the pedestrian can walk behind the car.
I've done that more times than I can remember, but it's usually rare to have grass where I walk. If it was more common I think there'd be a lot more of those exact same desire paths around
Hmm. I see these in the woods usually made by animals. It's interesting to see it in an urban setting with people.
Once I noticed a nest of ants in the yard of the vacant house next door. The ants had a visible path to the house. I wish I had taken a picture.
"Desire paths" cool phrase and alot to unpack
Thing is, walking on pavement is uncomfortable. I don't understand why so many of these paths are paved out when a simple dirt or gravel path is not only more comfortable to walk on, but also way more aesthetic.
Likely because of wheelchair users and all that.
@@Servergmr And lasts longer. Gravel gets washed away by rain eventually, grass grows through and so on. Pavement? You put it down once, and you're good for the next, like, 20 years minimum.
Gravel is very difficult to walk on when you have arthritis, joint pain, prosthetic knees, etc.
Actually, that's the funny reality-you do it yourself 😂😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍
3:39 they are not “desire paths” they are cow trails and they form more similar to game trails than “desire paths “
What's the difference?
@ they have a tendency to be straighter and they are always very level since cattle don’t like going up and down
@@karal_the_crazy how's that different from the desire path?
@ idk the name
In the Netherlands we call them: 'olifantpaadjes', what means: 'elephant paths'. 😊
But I always refuse to use them....am I the only one? 🤔❓
Apparently, elephants always take the shortest route to get to their destination, no matter what stands in their way. 😅
@@carmenl163 😅😅
I've lived my entire life in the Netherlands (56 years) but I've never heard the term "olifantpaadjes".
@@Jasper_4444 I have been Dutch for 60 years, and they are indeed called that. Just Google it! 😊
@@carmenl163 Don't you mean "... what *stood* in their way"?
"The shortest way between two points is a straight line"
Urban planner: "Hold my beer..!"
2:42 I would do one of two things: Just move the barricade to the sidewalk. Or, if im feeling particularly petty, walk around the baricades on the grass side
Why do they keep making unnecessary bends
Anything from disability ada issues, to landowner complaints. Sometimes there was an obstacle like a tree and it was removed but the right of way for the path stays the same.
At my college there was a desire path people created by walking diagonally across a patch of grass.
Instead of just paving it they put up a thick fence all the way around the grass and added threatening signs.
I don't mind convoluted pedestrian access ways. Guess I have more patience than the average.
You’re not wrong, but it’s disappointing to see so many challenges to landscapers go unaddressed.
Growing up in 50-60’s, we called them ‘SHORT-CUTS!!!😊
7:27 - Why is this a desire path? Look at the shadow, it’s to avoid walking under a sign.
these are pretty funny ngl
300th to comment btw :D
In the forests there are many paths created by animals.
Where they are tells you more about the animals that directly observing them can sometimes.
My favorite are raccoon paths-partway between the ridge and the bottom lands and likely to be flanked by berries.
0:42 "Urban planners failed"
3:33 Where I grew up we called desire paths "cow trails" whether it was actually formed by cows or not because it reminds us of the little roads that cows always make in their pastures.
In Arlington National Cemetery (US), so many people visited Audie Murphy's grave that they finally put a sidewalk from the main sidewalk to it.
7:52 this gate will be vandalized by three rails being sawed off, if someone determined enough was one in question using that hill.
It will happen, eventually, unless said person moves away. People do factor in the effort versus reward.
A noted landscape architect was noted for designing very beautiful college landscapes and pathways. When asked about the designs, he stated he planted trees,, shrubs, and planted the rest in lawn. A year later, paved the paths based on the traffic patterns.
9:35 The ice melted everywhere else because the leaves are able to insulate and retain more heat.
And the path is more importantly compaction from being walked on.
Curious graffiti at 3:21.
Yes. Can you make out the top two steps? There may be an obvioys sequence, but I don't know it.
I'm not sure what's in the top 2 but the other 3 Is a lesson in biology.
So random put It out there like that 😂😂😂
The planners at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver left paving any paths for one season. Then they just paved the paths people wore through the grass. Genius.
Our university got one of those. It got paved after I left though.
Some of these paths are tower defense worthy
You just have to love mankind when you watch this video. ❤
3:13 Yes, I would!
Me who'd parkour over the barriers and fences that they put up on those
"permissible footpath" is the most British thing I've seen this week.
I had one of these at my highschool, so much mud in the winter.
1:32 hahaha wooow
1:13 I know exactly where that is. And yes they are uncomfortable to walk on.
sometimes you just don't have time to stop and smell the roses
The nice thing about cow paths is they will almost always lead you to water
Urban planning 🤣🤣🤣
I like that they paved some of them. I think they forgot to make them wide enough though, so people had to form a second desire path right next to them. Don't forget that paving means MORE people will use that path! You can't just cover the bald bit, and call it a day. 🙂
7:21 the right turn into the alleyway
2:37 🤣🤣🤣🤣
When I was a kid, we literally had a rut in our backyard leading from our back door to our fence from our dog running back and forth
Humans are humans, no matter where they live.
@1:25 it's a wheelchair access ramp going up a hill, Z in order to provide a gentle slope for wheelies, but no allowance for the able-bodied so they make a shortcut themselves.
7:22 probably because the superstition of not wanting to walk under street signs.
👍👍👍
My university has three desire paths of note. One by the largest parking lot that eventually got properly paved and is used by nearly everyone. One by the engineering building that cuts across one of the lawns that just stays there, and one that used to exist that went through some trees that they put a rock through to stop people using.
I've got raccoon/skunk/opossum paths all over my yard. They use the same paths year after year.
It’s unfortunate that governments don’t give desire paths as much attention because they’re pretty interesting and can save them and their institutions a lot of money.
The UK RAF used to build airfields and supporting buildings without paths, wait for a year then build the paths were the grass had been worn away. They seem to have forgotten this trick now
1:29 show the view of that path from ground level. I guarantee it is a steep hill.