I used to hate them as I thought they defeated the purpose of the game, to make a wild world, then in New Leaf. I guess you could say I took a new leaf.
I mean, I like being able to be creative with paths, but I don't need them and I'm thinking of getting rid of them. They are nice to arrange flowers with though.
I prefer paths. I put them down in my town originally to help with grass wear, and now when I go to someone else's town I worry so much about their grass I don't like to walk anywhere unless they have a path down. I have some sort of grass-related OCD
I wish I could have chosen two answers because just one doesn't fit me. Personally, I NEED paths. But I love both tiles AND flower paths. I like a mix between design and "wild."
At first I wasn't really into paths, as I felt they made the town less "wild" but then I started to love them. I am very OCD about the looks of some things, for example, my town. Now, I seriously like paths and towns without them feel a bit empty to me (just a personal opinion!) I really like the cluttered sort of towns, the busy looking ones with lots of trees and stuff going on. For me it makes them feel "cozy", because they aren't empty and I feel like I can hide in the plants, etc.
I like paths, but honestly, I didn't get into them until ACNL. I currently have a brick path, but I honestly prefer natural dirt paths, as in the ones you make by wearing the grass down. A friend of mine had them, and I absolutely loved her town because of it, but I'm too lazy to do it myself, and my grass is too worn out in places to make it look nice, anyway. I might already have one, though, seeing as I run on the paths all the time...
I like having paths, but i'm going with a more simple hand-made path (stepping stones, trying to make them good, I will probably share them on TBT when i'm done) ^_^
I don't have one in my well established town, because I didn't really understand how useful and pretty they could be. I was a beginner. Now that I've visited many towns and seen how nice paths can look, I'm laying them down in my recently restarted town. It's a stone tile path with grass/flower detail between the tiles. Complex paths (ones with like 5-6 pieces) are way too much for me though. Mine is just one tile. Maybe I'll get a separate water tile or tiles when I'm done laying this one.