Desire path for straight sidewalk
this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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Desire Paths
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Desire paths Desire paths can be paths created as a consequence of erosion caused by human or animal foot-fall or traffic. The paths usually represent the shortest or most easily navigated routes between origins and destinations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_path
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I'll never understand why city planners do that. Like, it's clear you could have definitely had a little bit narrower sidewalk going straight through, but instead they just went around it.
If it's worried about spacing, they could just make it on both sides like a smaller path to the left of the pole and then the normal path curving around for like wheelchair access.
What I don't get is why the pole had to go right there. Why not put the sidewalk where you want it and then put the pole to the side? The fire hydrant seems to be doing just fine where it is.
bet you $10 the pole was there first. The cost of working with the cable company and paying their approved expensive team to remove it and moving it vs just taking your existing city contracted cement team and doing a little squiggly
money is always the motive
In some places it'll be the phone company and the power company and the cable TV/internet companies as well. You'd have to coordinate with all 3. And there may be regulations about how close it has to be to the street to enable repairs -- regulations put there for the safety of the workers, as well as to keep the lines away from tree branches that might take them down during a storm.