Satisfaction with conditions at the Stanford Dish Area is very high. Eighty-two percent of users say they are very (43%) or fairly (39%) satisfied with conditions at the Dish Area, while only 18% say they are just somewhat (12%) or not at all (6%) satisfied. Users are seven times as likely to say they are very satisfied as they are to say they are not at all satisfied.
Approval of the current Dish Area usage policy is also impressively high. When asked if they approve or disapprove of the current Dish usage policy, 79% of users either strongly (51%) or somewhat (28%) approve of the current Dish usage policy. Only 11% of users either somewhat (7%) or strongly (4%) disapprove. Users are thirteen times more likely to say they strongly approve of the Dish Area usage policy, as they are to say they strongly disapprove.
A modest majority (58%) of all Dish Area users do not have any affiliation with Stanford University. Of the 42% of users that have a Stanford affiliation, some have more than one affiliation (for example, some are both staff and alumni, or faculty and alumni): 15% are students; 6% are faculty; 9% are staff; and 15% are alumni. The lion's share (85%) of Dish Area users do not live on the Stanford University campus, they reside in neighboring Palo Alto (30%) and Menlo Park (15%) as well as the Peninsula (29%) and the Bay Area (7%). Half of respondents visit the Dish more than once a week, with 12% using it almost daily.
When asked which of three phrases better describes their view of the Dish Area usage policy, 3% choose "too much recreation, not enough conservation", 24% pick "too much conservation, not enough recreation" and a 73% majority select "a proper balance between recreation and conservation." Not surprisingly, those who run or jog only are more likely than average to say that there is not enough recreation (30%). Student users are also more prone to say that there is not enough recreation (33%), while only 20% of Stanford faculty users feel this way.
When asked to volunteer suggestions or comments on how the Dish Area can be improved for recreation or conservation, over half (57%) of respondents write down some type of improvement. The two main areas of improvement cited include trail improvements (22%) and increased access/hours (15%). No other broad suggestion is volunteered by more than one in ten respondents. The most often-mentioned trail improvements include; open more trails (8%) and provide unpaved/dirt trails (6%). The most often mentioned access improvements include: remain open later (5%) and more hours/longer hours (4%).
As the table below shows, these same improvements are particularly important to daily users, joggers/runners and to those who somewhat or strongly disapprove of the current Dish Area policy.
| Notable Sub-group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteered Improvements: | All Users | Daily Users | Jog/Run Only | Somewhat/Strongly Disapprove of policy |
| Increase access/hours | 15% | 24% | 17% | 31% |
| Trail Improvements | 22% | 26% | 30% | 41% |