To cut mowing costs and naturalize campus landscapes, planners have let the grass below the Johnson Art Museum grow into meadow.
The movement towards environmental sustainability has given Cornell a convenient cover. Instead of reducing maintenance expenditures as a response to a shrinking endowment, Cornell can simply say it is trying to make the campus "greener."
As Cornell becomes more sustainable -- and cuts costs -- Cornellians will see fewer lawns and more meadows on campus, longer grass and more green roofs and functional plantings.
Of course, there's no need to mow areas of campus which are rarely walked upon, but I'm concerned about what this means for winter maintenance. Will there be even less clearing of snow off sidewalks because it's better for the environment to avoid using snowblowers or plows? It doesn't make a huge difference to me whether the area below the Johnson Museum is lawn or meadow, but snow cleaning can make the difference between an easy (if frigid) walk to class and a hazardous slide down the stairs by the suspension bridge.
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