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Parks & Recreation Community Survey
Executive Summary of Results

Please Note: A complete survey is available for viewing or purchase at Kirkwood City Hall, 139 South Kirkwood Road. For more information,  contact the City Clerk at 314-822-5802.

Executive Summary

Conducted for the City of Kirkwood, Missouri,
Department of Parks & Recreation
by Leisure Vision (a division of ETC Institute)
in association with Jacobs and Leon Younger and PROS.

October 2001

Overview of the Methodology
The City of Kirkwood conducted a community survey during the month of September 2001 to help determine parks and recreation priorities for the city. The survey was developed with extensive input from Kirkwood residents. The survey development process involved three important components. First, the City created an oversight panel to monitor the development of the survey. This panel reviewed the work of the consultant team and city staff to ensure that all questions were written in an objective manner. Second, several focus groups and stakeholder interviews were conducted. Input from the focus groups and stakeholder interviews was used to frame the content of the survey. And third, the general public was given an opportunity to review and make comments on the survey before it was administered.

The survey was designed to obtain statistically valid results from a randomly selected sample of residents. A seven-page survey was mailed to a randomly selected sample of 1,200 households in the City of Kirkwood. Approximately five days after the surveys were mailed, residents who received the survey were contacted by phone. Those who indicated that they had not returned the survey were given the option of completing it by phone. Of the 1,200 households that received a survey, 205 completed the survey by phone and 321 returned it by mail for a total of 526 completed surveys (a 44% response rate). There were no statistically significant differences in the responses to the survey based on the method of administration (phone vs. mail). The results for the random sample of 526 households have a 95% level of confidence with a precision of at least +/- 4.2%.

This report contains (1) an executive summary of the results, (2) charts and graphs that depict the overall results, (3) benchmarking data that shows how selected survey results from the City of Kirkwood compare to the averages of more than 30 other cities across the United States, (4) tabular data for all questions on the survey and (5) a copy of the survey instrument. A separate appendix to this report has been prepared. The appendix contains banner crosstabulations for various demographic categories including geographic location, years of residency, and ages of household occupants. The crosstabulations can be used to better understand the needs of specific demographic groups within the community.

Major Findings

Parks and Facilities: Usage and Satisfaction
Ninety percent (90%) of those surveyed indicated that at least one member of their household had visited a park in the City of Kirkwood during the past year. Of those who have visited a City park during the past year, 90% rated the overall condition of the parks as excellent (38%) or good (52%); 10% rated them as fair (8%) or poor (2%).

Most residents use Kirkwood City Park. More than three-fourths (83%) of the households surveyed indicated that at least one member of their household visited Kirkwood City Park at least once during the past year; 42% visited the park at least 10 times during the past year.

Recreation Station and Greentree Park were each visited by approximately one-third of the households in Kirkwood during the past year.

Emmenegger Nature Park and Depot Park were each visited by approximately one-fourth of the households in Kirkwood during the past year.

Fillmore Park, Fireman's Memorial Park, and Mitchell park were each visited by less than 10% of the City's households during the past year.

The main reason residents do not use city parks and recreation facilities more often is that they have other interests (37%). Other reasons that were mentioned by more than 10% of the respondents include: facilities need maintenance (14%), facilities do not have the equipment desired (13%), and the hours of operation are not convenient (13%).

Residents were asked to rate their satisfaction with the availability of various types of parks and recreation facilities in the City of Kirkwood on a five-point scale where '5' meant "completely satisfied" and '1' meant "completely dissatisfied." Satisfaction with availability indicates how well the number of facilities meets the needs of residents; it does not necessarily reflect satisfaction with the condition of the facilities. The facilities that had the highest and lowest levels of satisfaction related to their availability are listed on the following page (the percentages have been adjusted to exclude "don't know" responses).

Top 5 Items                    Combined Percentage of "Completely
                                  Satisfied" & "Somewhat Satisfied" Ratings
Large Community parks                                85%
Outdoor swimming facilities                           85%
Community centers                                        84%
Ice skating/hockey facilities                            80%
Playgrounds for children                                 80%

Bottom  5 Items             Combined Percentage of "Completely
                                  Satisfied" & "Somewhat Satisfied" Ratings
Inline skating facilities                                     34%
Golf courses                                                   40%
Handball/racquetball courts                             40%
Indoor swimming centers                                 44%
Senior centers                                                 51%

Programs: Awareness, Participation, and Satisfaction
More than one-third (35%) of the households surveyed indicated that at least one member of their household participated in Kirkwood Parks and Recreation programs during the previous year.

Residents who participate in parks and recreation programs get information about the programs from the local newspaper (40%), friends and coworkers (38%), city newsletter (32%), visiting or calling a parks and recreation office (29%), informational brochures/catalogs (28%), school fliers (20%), cable television (2%), and the city website (1%).

Many residents indicated that they or other members of their household use recreation programs and facilities provided by organizations other than the City of Kirkwood. The organizations most frequently used by residents include: Powder Valley Nature Center (45%), churches (40%), the Kirkwood YMCA (29%), and local schools (28%).

Access to Neighborhood Parks and Trails
More than three-fourths (82%) of the households surveyed would consider a park to be within walking distance of their home if it were located less than a 1/2 mile from their home. About half (49%) of the households surveyed would consider a park to be within walking distance of their home if it were located one mile from their house.

42% of those surveyed did not think they lived within walking distance of a city park.

55% of those surveyed did not think they lived within walking distance of a walking or biking trail.

Priorities for Parks and Recreation
More than half (52%) of the residents surveyed thought maintenance of existing parks and recreation facilities should be the City's top priority over the next 10 years. More than one-third (36%) of those surveyed thought the acquisition of additional land for new parks and open space areas should be the City's top priority. Only 4% thought the development of new recreation facilities should be the City's top priority.

Residents were asked to rate the desirability of various parks and recreation items that could be developed by the City of Kirkwood as "extremely desirable," "very desirable," "somewhat desirable," or "not desirable." The items that were most desirable are listed below.

Top 5 Items                    Combined Percentage of "Extremely" & 
                                                       "Very Desirable" Ratings
Active use trails for biking/walking                              74%
Nature trails for hiking, bird watching                          62%
Large community parks with picnic areas/fishing          58%
Historic site preservation                                             55%
Botanical gardens/preserve                                          55%

Residents would be most willing to fund the development of active use trails with existing City tax dollars that are dedicated to parks and recreation. Residents preferred active use trails by a margin of more than 2 to 1 over any other item.

More than three-fourths (81%) of those surveyed thought it was important for the City to add restrooms and drinking fountains to existing City parks. Only 8% did not think it was important to add restrooms and drinking fountains; 11% did not have an opinion.

Land Acquisition Issues
82% of the residents surveyed thought the City should acquire land and leave the land undeveloped and natural for future generations; 60% of those surveyed strongly agreed with this idea.

83% of the residents surveyed thought the City should acquire land to develop parks for passive uses such as trails, picnic areas, and nature centers. 52% of those surveyed strongly agreed with this idea.

45% of the residents surveyed thought the City should acquire land to develop parks for active youth and adult team sports, such as baseball, softball, and soccer. Only 18% of those surveyed strongly agreed with this idea.

49% of the residents surveyed thought Meramec Highlands was the best location to acquire additional land for parks and open space. The other top choices were: land along the Meramec River (45%), and Meramec Highlands Quarry (32%).

64% of the residents surveyed thought the City should pay market value for the acquisition of land for parks and open space; 10% thought the City should pay more than market value, and 7% thought the City should pay less than market value; 14% did not have an opinion; 6% thought the City should pay nothing.

Non-resident Fees and Usage
Residents generally think non-residents should be allowed to participate in Kirkwood parks and recreation programs. 65% of the residents surveyed thought non-residents should be allowed to participate in recreation programs offered by the City of Kirkwood; 63% thought non-residents should be allowed to use recreation facilities operated by the City of Kirkwood.

Residents think non-residents should be charged more than residents. Although most residents think non-residents should be allowed to participate in City programs and be allowed to use City-operated recreational facilities, most residents support higher fees for non-residents. 83% of those surveyed were very supportive (61%) or somewhat supportive (22%) of charging non-residents higher fees to use city-operated facilities and participate in city recreation programs.