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You're running late to the bus stop. You check your clock every few strides — there's still hope to make it. But after you turn a corner, you see that the sidewalk you've been sprinting takes a ridiculous curve instead of going straight to the street where you need to go. So what do you do? Cut the line through the grass.
You've just taken a 'desire path,' described by Robert Macfarlane as "paths & tracks made over time by the wishes & feet of walkers, especially those ... that run contrary to design or planning"; he calls them "free-will ways."
Robert Moor offers other terms, such as 'cow paths,' 'pirate paths,' 'social trails,' 'kemonomichi (beast trails),' 'chemins de l'âne (donkey paths)', and 'Olifantenpad (elephant trails).'
JM Barrie described them as 'Paths that have Made Themselves.'
Whichever word you decide to use, there's a whole subreddit dedicated to these shortcuts, and it perfectly illustrates that urban developers aren't always on top of their game. Or that people are just lazy. Or maybe it's both!
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#2
Desire Path Created By A Squirrel We Feed Peanuts To Every Morning
#3
Desirepath Regocnition In The Netherlands
#4
Understandable Desire Path
#5
Never Heard Of This Before, But Figured I Had The Perfect One
#6
Been Here 30 Years, I Don't Think The Gate Has Ever Been Used
#7
Well Worn Wal-Mart Path. Deepest I've Ever Seen
#9
They're Both Kind Of Appealing
#11
Miami U (Ohio) With The Awareness!!
#12
Update: Tree Is Budding + Secondary Path
#13
Desire Stairs
#14
Beautiful Exemplar
#15
"Please, Take This Circuitous Route Following The Perimeter" Signed, The Architects
#16
Ultimate Acceptance
#17
Three Years Ago, I Posted About A Desire Path On My Campus. We Are Successful!
#19
Desire Path To Avoid A Branch Hanging Over Another Larger Desire Path
#20
The Fast Track To Fastrac
#21
It's Not Very Long But It's Got Character
#22
My Daughter Found The Shortest Way Home
#23
This His Is In Fact A Walkway, Thanks Though Lil’ Sign
#24
Useful Desire Path
#25
Long, Foggy, More Direct Desire Path At Ucsc
#26
My University Gave Into Our Desire Path- In A Way That Created Another, Smaller Desire Path
#27
One Side Preferred
#28
A Low-Tech Approach To Defeating A Desire Path
#29
Desirepath? Gimme That Desirestreet!
#30
Absolute Behemoth Desired Path Next To The College In My Home Town
Nightshade1972 2 years ago
When a famous architect was putting up a new office complex a few decades ago, he deliberately did *not* put in any sidewalks/footpaths once construction was done. He waited a couple of months, noted where the grass was worn down, and that's where he had the permanent footpaths put in.
#31
I See One In The Making
#32
Two Shopping Centres Are Separated By A Long Stretch Of Train Tracks. No Amount Of Signs Can Stop People
GrillMeASalmon 2 years ago
Those who have not been hit by a train as yet don't care...and those who HAVE been hit...well...they don't either.
#33
Desire Path So Strong Is Goes Through A Metal Mesh Fence
#34
A Really Cool One In My Town
TheGoodBoi 2 years ago (edited)
You would see an imprint of my face in the dirt at the bottom..
#35
Running Down The Desire Path
#36
Desired Paths, Kaunas, Lithuania C.1976
Max Fox 2 years ago
In Vilnius a couple of new neighborhoods didn't initially build paths until the identified desired paths. That was in the 1960s, after Stalin was gone, but before the USSR government decided that the best way for the leadership to live in comfort and luxury was to let the country stagnate.
#37
A Rejection Of The Most Confusing Section Of Sidewalk In My Apartment Complex
#38
Rest In Peace My Friend
#39
Smallest Desire Path: Cyclists Avoiding A Small Gap-Bump On The Asphalt
#40
A Particular Pointless One
#41
Just Saved 3 Seconds With This Beauty, 6 If You Count The Return Trip
#42
Spotted On The Uc Riverside Campus
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What do you think ?
General Anaesthesia 2 years ago
Same here. So very human and no celebrities.
Load More Replies... Paul Rabit 2 years ago
Ive never heard the term “desire paths”. We always called them “cow paths.” Learn something new everyday!
Bored Retsuko 2 years ago
In German, the very unromantic term translates to "trampled path".
Load More Replies...
ƒιѕн 2 years ago
Fun Fact: Michigan State University didn’t put in sidewalks when new buildings were built. Instead, they waited for students to create their own paths. yg8gz0knvv...7a39ec.jpg 
jjdubs W 2 years ago
At IBM, they used to let people create the desire paths, then they paved them. Saved a lot of hassle for everyone.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
While in college, the school erected a new building on the main quad. Went from 4 buildings to 5. Understandably, the construction wrecked the grass as stuff was left on it during the build and people walked around it. They finished in the spring. Come summer, they took up all the sidewalks and resodded the whole 1.5 acres. People built new desire paths on the new lawn. Christmas break, they laid down new brick sidewalks on all the paths.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Considering the fact that most of our modern roads and highways started out as animal migration paths, then became indigenous peoples’ footpaths, then cart paths to market, then carriage roads, and eventually major roads and highways. Not all of them started that way, but quite a lot of the older roads and highways did.
RandomEpiBioPerson 2 years ago
The existence of desire paths, at least in many cases, are great examples of why people REALLY need to start using human factors scientists/psychologists when they design the layouts of things. How humans will use something is basically their field of study and could greatly help to avoid this stuff and make a lot of things more efficient. I'm not a human factors scientist, I'm a biologist/epidemiologist, but I've worked with and know personally some human factors scientists, and it actually helped me with considering my own things, just having their input.
Tiny Dynamine 2 years ago
To conclude, the journey is nowhere near as desirable as the destination.
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
Many years ago my grandmother and I used to go for walks in a public park along a river. We (and a lot of other people) noticed that one part of the path was in danger of falling into the river. Many people created a desire path avoiding the threatened part. Eventually the desire path became part of the official path - because the short stretch that was too close to the river eventually fell in. I know that making your own path in a public park is a no-no, but I'm sure we can make an exception in this case.
Emmydearest 2 years ago
It just occurred to me that I very rarely don't follow the "legitimate" path, don't know why. It's just automatic for me: this is the path, that's what I'm gonna use. It takes me longer? Well, there must be a reason why they laid it like that. 🤷♀️That says a lot about my personality, I guess
Violet Smith 2 years ago
Anyone else uncomfortable with the term "desirepath"? I've always called them goat tracks.
General Anaesthesia 2 years ago
Same here. So very human and no celebrities.
Load More Replies... Paul Rabit 2 years ago
Ive never heard the term “desire paths”. We always called them “cow paths.” Learn something new everyday!
Bored Retsuko 2 years ago
In German, the very unromantic term translates to "trampled path".
Load More Replies... ƒιѕн 2 years ago
Fun Fact: Michigan State University didn’t put in sidewalks when new buildings were built. Instead, they waited for students to create their own paths. yg8gz0knvv...7a39ec.jpg
jjdubs W 2 years ago
At IBM, they used to let people create the desire paths, then they paved them. Saved a lot of hassle for everyone.
Two_rolling_black_eyes 2 years ago
While in college, the school erected a new building on the main quad. Went from 4 buildings to 5. Understandably, the construction wrecked the grass as stuff was left on it during the build and people walked around it. They finished in the spring. Come summer, they took up all the sidewalks and resodded the whole 1.5 acres. People built new desire paths on the new lawn. Christmas break, they laid down new brick sidewalks on all the paths.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Considering the fact that most of our modern roads and highways started out as animal migration paths, then became indigenous peoples’ footpaths, then cart paths to market, then carriage roads, and eventually major roads and highways. Not all of them started that way, but quite a lot of the older roads and highways did.
RandomEpiBioPerson 2 years ago
The existence of desire paths, at least in many cases, are great examples of why people REALLY need to start using human factors scientists/psychologists when they design the layouts of things. How humans will use something is basically their field of study and could greatly help to avoid this stuff and make a lot of things more efficient. I'm not a human factors scientist, I'm a biologist/epidemiologist, but I've worked with and know personally some human factors scientists, and it actually helped me with considering my own things, just having their input.
Tiny Dynamine 2 years ago
To conclude, the journey is nowhere near as desirable as the destination.
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
Many years ago my grandmother and I used to go for walks in a public park along a river. We (and a lot of other people) noticed that one part of the path was in danger of falling into the river. Many people created a desire path avoiding the threatened part. Eventually the desire path became part of the official path - because the short stretch that was too close to the river eventually fell in. I know that making your own path in a public park is a no-no, but I'm sure we can make an exception in this case.
Emmydearest 2 years ago
It just occurred to me that I very rarely don't follow the "legitimate" path, don't know why. It's just automatic for me: this is the path, that's what I'm gonna use. It takes me longer? Well, there must be a reason why they laid it like that. 🤷♀️That says a lot about my personality, I guess
Violet Smith 2 years ago
Anyone else uncomfortable with the term "desirepath"? I've always called them goat tracks.
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