• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    72
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    There’s a college in Chicago, i think it’s IIT maybe, that used aerial photography to map out the student cow paths, then they redid all the sidewalks to incorporate those paths.

    Edit: they ended up adding a building in a grassy area and maintained all the hall/walkways of the building in line with the sidewalks/cowpaths. Kinda neat.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      155 months ago

      This has happened at a LOT of colleges. Penn State’s quad is crisscrossed with paths that they paved.

    • Trollivier
      link
      13
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      I love this type of urbanism. Some cities also study how cars behave in winter by looking at the tracks in the street, and they realized cars actually needed much less room on street corners than they thought.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        15 months ago

        Every winter I see same corner filled with snow and nothing changed. They for sure need to cut some corners.

    • Sabre363
      link
      English
      135 months ago

      I’d be surprised if students didn’t immediately make new paths off the new sidewalks

      • @[email protected]
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        English
        245 months ago

        why would they, desire paths happen because the initial pavements aren’t designed well.

        • volvoxvsmarla
          link
          fedilink
          125 months ago

          We had that in my local park. There was a huge field that everyone walked through because it was much quicker than going around. So they finally made a sidewalk there (not with tarmac though, more like gravel and sand mix). Just a couple of weeks later there was a new path just parallel to this one. My guess is the problem was that the field was a bit hole shaped (sorry I don’t know a better term in English) and this, as well just the nature of the sidewalk, led to it accumulating water puddles, and also it just turned into sandy/stoney mud when it rained. For bikes it was also just more comfortable to ride over the grass than over gravel. But it still felt like an asshole move.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            25 months ago

            For bikes it was also just more comfortable to ride over the grass than over gravel.

            True. Personal experience.

        • Sabre363
          link
          English
          45 months ago

          Because that’s exactly what has happened multiple times at the community college I go to.

          • kase
            link
            fedilink
            65 months ago

            Just pave the entire thing at that point (sarcasm) (pls don’t do this)

            • Sabre363
              link
              English
              35 months ago

              Sadly this seems to be exactly their plan, just as soon as the government gives them another $10*10^6 to lose