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This is why some places like Michigan State University and Ohio State University use "desire path planning". That's where they observe where people walk and then install (or move) the sidewalks to match those footpaths.
Not necessarily good though since it further seals the ground. There's nothing wrong with leaving desire paths untouched.
The problem is they would either have to police people from using them, or let grassy areas become bisected by muddy ditches
Is there an issue with muddy bisections? It might not look the most appealing but it's better than pavement.
To prevent the paths from getting ever wider you could, for example, plant flowers next to them. That's a pretty effective and unobtrusive way.
Mud is messy; muddy trails also aren't the most wheelchair-friendly
Mud is messy
It depends. Some people view lawns that aren't devoid of all insect life messy or trimmed evenly messy. And if it is raining or has recently rained, hardly anyone would use a muddy path so the concrete sidewalk will remain reasonably clean as well.
wheelchair-accessible
That's important, though I'm not advocating for keeping an entire campus unpaved. I am arguing that only necessary pathways should be paved while desire paths should ideally remain unpaved. People in wheelchairs should still get around (quickly), but desire paths don't need to be wheelchair accessible in my opinion.
A dirt path, fine and great. Sounds nice for summertime.
Lot of schools aren't in a warm climate.
Those paths become unusable in winter, a muddy (unusable) slop when it rains or when the snow melts.
Muddy paths lead to wet socks and dirty shoes at best, and at worst, you slip and get covered.
I don't think there's an issue with desire paths becoming unusable during certain times though. It slightly extends the time you spend walking around but I'd prefer this over having unnecessary pavement.
You might as well pave the entire green space in this example.
And why would paving the entire green space not be worse than only paving the paths people walk on?
I meant to convey how so much of the existing green space was paved already that paving the entire green space wouldn't be much different at this point.
I would guess the paved paths make up like 20% of the image? That's far too much in my opinion, green space in cities is already severely limited.
You can also see how every time a desire path was paved, new desire paths sprung up - which were then also paved.
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https://maps.app.goo.gl/wYXv4G4k8t6MXNNf9
Prime example at Ohio State