So in Nanaimo, i started using the highway=pedestrian tag on areas where it is designated as pedestrian... no bikes, no rolerblades, to scateboards.
... I figure that its a good idea to draw in these, where you have a cement sidewalk.. and its obvious when looking at it in real life that its not for bicycles.
..
When the way is paved flat (with no cement cut blocks) then its not Assumed that its only for bikes or only for foot.
Usually when it is marked as a bicycle.. then it becomes a cycleway.. and pedestrians are asked to take the 'sidewalk'. ...

And so for dirt paths where it's not clear.. i like the new JOSM feature where you can indicate it as hiking .. and it shows different hiking levels.

So to me.... IMO... i will be using highway=pedestrian in 2 cases. 1 where i show a sidewalk next to the road (other roads which dont have anything, its assumed that there is no sidewalk. .. and where its a waterfront boardwalk where its obvious that its pedestrian only.

Hopefully im on the same line of thinking.

Thanks in Advance,
P.S. its not rendered yet, so you'll have to go into editing mode to see it.