With the immense popularity of Pokémon Go, growing more popular with each day, there are many real-world places that have been marked as Gyms or Pokéstops.
However, some of these places are looking to opt out of this. When a location is marked as a Gym or a Pokéstop, there tends to be an influx of traffic.
J.C Smith of The Pokémon Company told LA Times in an interview that it’s working on new features that are “appealing to the fans but also respectful of private institutions that are affected by it.”
Although this is currently an option to request their location to be removed as a Pokéstop or a gym, it is not instantaneous.
Smith also noted, “When something is really popular, we have to figure out the most respectful way to deal with it and make sure everyone is playing safely and doing things in a respectful manner.”
One place, for very good reason, that had its PokéStop removed is the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. Other locations, which tend to be of the historical variety, include the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Arlington National Cemetery.
There was even one man in Massachusetts whose home was marked as a Gym. He hopes that he will be able to move the gym’s coordinates, quite possibly to the park across the street from his house.
He says, “It turns out there’s a great park across the street from my house. A simple fix may be nudging the coordinates a few degrees and then everyone’s happier.”
