Ah the ol’ desire path strikes again!
I enjoy the Desire Paths community here on Lemmy. It’s so interesting to see what paths people take contrary to what paths are laid out for them.
I’ve heard a story about a college campus that didn’t install any paths, waited for natural dirt paths to form in the grass, then installed paths there. Neat idea.
Makes sense for a college campus where everyone has a different schedule. Just draw a line between every building and there’s your pathways.
In my junior high days (mid 80s) My friends and I found a machete in one of their dad’s stuff. We spent a weekend bushwhacking paths around some city-owned but undeveloped land near a lake. We ended up wearing them down pretty good into bike paths with some jumps and cool whoops. A few years later, the city turned it into a park and paved our paths.
I have a hobby of doing the opposite: making undesirepaths.
During large snowfalls, I often need to bring out the shovel and make a path, both from my house and in front of it towards the main road. I like to add turns and bends, just enough to confuse and lightly annoy, but not enough for people to consider stepping into deep snow or making their own path.
I like how the path curves behind the bench after the bench goes up like people are choosing not to walk in front of people sitting on the bench.