31 Holmes Ave
Urban Plaza, below average overall (score 30, rank ~28th percentile). Strongest: enclosure; weakest: amenity diversity.
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31 Holmes Ave scores 29.5 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. Weakest: amenity diversity (0). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.
Area · 0.10 ha
Getting around
No walking paths mapped in OpenStreetMap.
No seating mapped in OpenStreetMap.
Nearest parking 41 m away. None of the 14 nearby lots records whether it has accessible spaces.
Path, seating and parking data comes from OpenStreetMap and reflects what volunteers have mapped, not a survey. Absence here means nobody has recorded it. This section does not assess wheelchair access: the relevant OpenStreetMap tag is present on well under 1% of Toronto paths.
Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 57%
Data confidence: moderate
Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.
Loading map…
The parks map is loading.Explain this score
Where did the 30 come from? Each weighted contribution against a neutral 50 baseline. Green = pushed up; red = pulled down.
Sum of contributions = the headline score. A negative bar means that dimension dragged the park below the city-wide neutral baseline.
Why this park works
31 Holmes Ave works because its enclosure score (79) is above average (7 mid-rise buildings frame the edge with passive surveillance).
What limits this park
31 Holmes Ave is held back by amenity diversity (0, bottom quartile).
Most distinctive characteristic
Most distinctive feature: exceptionally low amenity diversity (0, bottom quartile).
Jacobs reading
31 Holmes Ave sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat: moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.
Tradeoffs
- The park is enclosed by buildings (79) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.
- 6 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy: passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.
Performance in context
- Reads as a modest underperformer relative to comparable parks (gap -8; cohort: pocket Urban Plaza).
Typology classification
Classified as Urban Plaza: 1011 m², paved (0% canopy), 17.2 buildings/100 m
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 0 active uses (none) and 2 dead/hostile uses (parking_lot). Active edges keep "eyes on the park" through the day; parking lots, blank institutional walls, rail and highway frontages drain street life.
Source: OSM POIs (amenity/shop) + Toronto Building Footprints + land use
Connectivity
Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 0 mapped paths/walkways and 5 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 3 street intersections within 100 m; 24 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~152 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.
Source: Toronto Centreline V2 + Pedestrian Network + OSM transit stops
Amenity Diversity
No amenities recorded. Score is 0 until inventory is loaded.
Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags
Natural Comfort
Natural-comfort components for this park: ~2.8% effective canopy (0.0% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); nearest waterbody ~1021 m; 4 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (4.0/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).
Source: Toronto Treed Area + Ravine + Waterbodies + Street Tree Inventory
Enclosure / Eyes on Park
26 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (7 mid-rise, 13 low-rise, 6 tower); avg edge height 27.9 m (~9 floors); 17.2 buildings per 100 m of 152 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges lean tall but still framed; 6 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 7 mid-rise edge buildings.
Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)
Border Vacuum Risk
Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, parking_lot. Jacobs warned that highways, rail, parking lots and blank institutional edges act as "vacuums" that suppress foot traffic and isolate the park from its neighbourhood.
Source: Toronto Street Centreline (highways) + rail layer + OSM landuse + building footprints
Equity Context
Equity Context requires inputs not yet loaded for this park (Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles). Score is held at a neutral 50 with low confidence. Read with caution.
Source: Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles
Amenities (0)
No amenities recorded for this park.
Nearby active-edge features (73)
- parking lot41 m
- parking lot43 m
- parking lot107 m
- parking lot115 m
- parking lot119 m
- parking lot123 m
- retail: Foxy Nail and Spa130 m
- retail: Balance Hair and Nail Studio131 m
- retail: Skin Love Esthetic132 m
- retail: Lips Boutique by J.K.A.132 m
- retail: Kira Kira Nail and Beauty132 m
- parking lot133 m
- cafe: Gong Cha135 m
- restaurant: Sansotei Ramen136 m
- restaurant: Mabu Station140 m
- restaurant: Magic Noodle140 m
- restaurant: Korean Chinese Restaurant141 m
- retail: iBAKE141 m
- cafe: Gong Cha141 m
- restaurant: Sang-Ji Fried Bao142 m
- restaurant: Meet You142 m
- restaurant: Oh! Bar143 m
- restaurant: Tasty Hut144 m
- restaurant: Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu Korean Restaurant144 m
- retail: Cola Pet144 m
- restaurant: VIPS Sushi145 m
- restaurant: Zhangliang146 m
- restaurant: Angus Pho House146 m
- restaurant: Gino's Pizza147 m
- restaurant: Pine House Cafe147 m
- restaurant: MeNami148 m
- restaurant: Authentic Japanese Food148 m
- restaurant: Wing Machine149 m
- parking lot152 m
- restaurant: Pizza Shab154 m
- restaurant: Sang-Ji Fried Bao157 m
- restaurant: Gol’s Lanzhou Noodle159 m
- highway: Yonge Street161 m
- retail164 m
- retail: In Style Hair Salon164 m
- highway: Yonge Street165 m
- restaurant: Jangteo Gukbap165 m
- parking lot166 m
- restaurant: N Dolphin Karaoke167 m
- retail: Jealousy Beauty167 m
- retail: Pegah Books169 m
- parking lot169 m
- parking lot169 m
- highway: Yonge Street170 m
- restaurant: Jin's Mi-Fen170 m
- parking lot171 m
- cafe: Cafe Bene172 m
- parking lot173 m
- highway: Yonge Street174 m
- restaurant: Ling BBQ176 m
- highway: Yonge Street176 m
- transit stop: Yonge St. @ Kempford Blvd.177 m
- transit stop: Yonge Street at Kempford Boulevard177 m
- transit stop: Yonge Street at Byng Avenue177 m
- restaurant: Hot-Star Fried Chicken178 m
- highway: Yonge Street178 m
- restaurant: Lim Ga Ne Korean Restaurant179 m
- restaurant: Misato Sushi181 m
- restaurant: Kayagum181 m
- restaurant: Yonge Billiard Club181 m
- restaurant: Pho Vietnamese Delight181 m
- restaurant: Vietnamese Delight182 m
- retail: Daisy Nails & Spa183 m
- restaurant: Pastel Creperie184 m
- restaurant: Banh Mi Nana187 m
- parking lot188 m
- restaurant: Pizza Nova192 m
- cafe: Tim Hortons196 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality28th
- Edge activation30th
- Connectivity47th
- Amenity diversity17th
- Natural comfort25th
- Enclosure82th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- Eglinton ParkCorridor / Linear Park32
- City Wide Open SpaceWaterfront Park33
- Old Mill ParketteRavine / Naturalized Park31
- Trudelle ParkWaterfront Park25
- Keelesdale South ParkRavine / Naturalized Park23
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Kew GardensNeighbourhood Park75
- Leslie Grove ParkParkette73
- Toronto ZooWaterfront Park67
- Bellevue Square ParkCivic Square73
- David Crombie ParkCorridor / Linear Park71
Human activity signals: not available
No activity signals have landed for this park yet. The model has scored its physical form but it can’t yet say how often it’s programmed, photographed, or walked through. See /data-ethics for what we will and will not collect.
Does this score feel accurate?
Your read of 31 Holmes Ave matters. We’re testing whether the model lines up with how people actually use the park. Submissions are stored locally; no account needed.
Tell us how this park feels
We measure structure (canopy, edges, connectivity). You measure feeling. Both matter, and disagreement is itself useful civic data.
What would improve this park?
Generated from the weakest measured dimensions: a starting point, not a prescription.
- Activate the edges: encourage cafés, retail or community uses on the streets that face the park; replace blank or parking-lot edges where possible.
- Add or open more entrances and improve sidewalk continuity around the park. More permeability means more spontaneous use.
- Diversify what people can do in the park (playground, washroom, water, shade, performance, sport, garden): even small additions raise this score.
- Increase canopy and reduce paved area. Shade and water features extend usable hours and seasons.
Data sources
- City of Toronto Open Data: Green SpacesPolygon boundaries, official names, land classes. Boundaries are reconciled against OpenStreetMap (ODbL) for new and updated parks.
- Parks & Recreation FacilitiesInventory of in-park amenities (washrooms, fields, rinks…).
- Toronto Pedestrian NetworkSidewalk segments around and through parks; estimated park entrances.
- Toronto Centreline V2Street segments + intersection nodes near park edges; trails and walkways.
- Toronto 3D MassingBuilding footprints + heights for edge-building counts, frontage density, and tower-in-the-park risk.
- Toronto Treed AreaTree canopy share inside park polygons via stratified-grid sampling.
- Toronto Waterbodies & RiversWater surface inside parks + nearest-water distance for cooling.
- Ravine & Natural Feature ProtectionRavine overlap as a cooling / natural-comfort signal.
- Toronto Street Tree InventoryTree count + density inside park polygons.
- Neighbourhood Profiles(Pending) Equity context proxy.
- OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.