[82lsju]

I get the perspective about the stadium looking a bit antiseptic, but I also look at:
7. Lower the field a few feet (yeah, pipe dream) so that even in rows A-E you can see the whole field and not be blocked off by the players on the sidelines. Best place I've seen this done was at the Fiasco Bowl

IIRC, there were significant water table issues, which made this unlikely.

my vague recollection is that the current field is 14 feet lower than the old one

but this article says 7 feet

lowering the playing surface by seven feet

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/mo...0amb.shtml

and now apparently 

a playing surface 29 feet (8.8 m) below ground level

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Stadium

[82lsju]

I get the perspective about the stadium looking a bit antiseptic, but I also look at:
7. Lower the field a few feet (yeah, pipe dream) so that even in rows A-E you can see the whole field and not be blocked off by the players on the sidelines. Best place I've seen this done was at the Fiasco Bowl

IIRC, there were significant water table issues, which made this unlikely.

my vague recollection is that the current field is 14 feet lower than the old one

but this article says 7 feet

lowering the playing surface by seven feet

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/mo...0amb.shtml

and now apparently 

a playing surface 29 feet (8.8 m) below ground level

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Stadium