Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation Department
Assessing Engagement and Satisfaction through Comprehensive Research
EMC Research has worked with the Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation Department to provide a wide assortment of opinion research, guiding strategic decisions based on park usage, satisfaction, and priorities. EMC’s work has informed everything from public support for tax funding to understanding barriers to park visitation faced by under-researched communities.
The Problem
Santa Clara County Parks values ongoing insights into how residents view and interact with their extensive park system. They have sought to understand park satisfaction, usage patterns, and priorities to ensure they are meeting the needs of the community. In addition, the Department aims to address barriers to usage and underutilization of county parks, particularly among communities of color, low-income residents, and immigrant communities, and turned to EMC for our expertise in conducting research among these harder-to-reach populations.
To deliver effective park services and allocate resources appropriately, Santa Clara County Parks tasked EMC Research with providing reliable data that can evolve with the changing demands of residents, especially the post-pandemic landscape, which has impacted park usage across the region.
EMC Research’s Strategy
EMC Research has implemented a multi-faceted research approach tailored to the evolving needs of the Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation Department. Over the years, we have conducted multimodal community surveys, in-person intercept surveys at parks, and focus groups targeting specific populations. We have recommended changes in methodology over time to reflect industry innovations and evolving standards for data collection.
In 2023-2024, we expanded our research program to include a qualitative study of barriers to park visitation, focusing on populations who rarely visit county parks. This included in-depth interviews and focus groups to understand the specific challenges faced by non-English speakers, low-income residents, and other groups that may be traditionally underrepresented in research. In addition, we conducted the sixth iteration of our park visitor tracking survey, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods to gain deeper insights into the reasons residents visit parks and satisfaction with their experiences.
Our Results
EMC Research’s partnership with the Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation Department has consistently provided actionable insights that inform strategic decisions and enhance park services. Our research also played a critical role in the successful ballot measure renewing of the Department’s taxpayer funding in 2016, ensuring continued financial support for county parks. Over the years, our data has helped the Department track changing community priorities, leading to improved park services and outreach efforts.
In recent years, our focus on identifying barriers to park visitation has uncovered key challenges faced by groups that may be traditionally underrepresented in research, providing the County with valuable information to help remove these obstacles and increase engagement. By continuing to track satisfaction and usage trends, EMC’s research ensures that the Santa Clara County Parks & Recreation Department remains a vital and accessible resource for all residents.
