Al Green Sculpture Park
Urban Plaza, middle of the pack overall (score 32, rank ~38th percentile). Strongest: enclosure; weakest: connectivity.
Al Green Sculpture Park scores 31.7 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and natural comfort. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.
Area · 0.43 ha
What's here
Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%
Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.
Loading map…
The parks map is loading.Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Explain this score
Where did the 32 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
Al Green Sculpture Park works because its enclosure score (76) is above average and its amenity diversity (21) is also top quartile (15 mid-rise buildings frame the edge with passive surveillance).
What limits this park
Al Green Sculpture Park is held back by connectivity (26, bottom quartile).
Most distinctive characteristic
Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high enclosure (76, top quartile).
Jacobs reading
Al Green Sculpture Park 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 (76) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.
- 10 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 -10; cohort: small Urban Plaza).
- Citywide rank is high (38th) but typology rank is more modest (17th): the strength likely comes from the dataset average pulling lower than this typology’s baseline.
Typology classification
Classified as Urban Plaza: 4259 m², paved (3% canopy), 10.2 buildings/100 m
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 6 active uses (retail, restaurant, transit_stop) and 7 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 3 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 1 street intersections within 100 m; 23 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~364 m of perimeter. low edge density, significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.
Source: Toronto Centreline V2 + Pedestrian Network + OSM transit stops
Amenity Diversity
2 distinct amenity types in the park (bench, garden). Diversity, not raw count, drives the score so a park with many distinct activity types can outrank a larger park that repeats the same use.
Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags
Natural Comfort
Natural-comfort components for this park: 3.3% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~845 m. Reading: exposed. Source coverage: treed_area, waterbodies. 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
37 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (15 mid-rise, 12 low-rise, 10 tower); avg edge height 26.9 m (~9 floors); 10.2 buildings per 100 m of 364 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges lean tall but still framed; 10 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 15 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. 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 (2 types · 8 records)
- bench
- garden
Nearby active-edge features (71)
- parking lot10 m
- parking lot: Sobeys customer parking51 m
- retail: Sobeys Urban Fresh54 m
- restaurant: The Flaming Stove65 m
- parking lot68 m
- parking lot: Golden Hanger Cleaners customer parking - 5 minute time limit76 m
- retail79 m
- retail86 m
- parking lot87 m
- parking lot90 m
- retail: Hair Dynasty94 m
- transit stop: Yonge Street99 m
- parking lot100 m
- transit stop: Yonge Street East Side111 m
- retail: Davisville Home Healthcare114 m
- transit stop: 84 Davisville Ave (Salvation Army)114 m
- restaurant: Mr. Sub114 m
- cafe: J.J's Deli & Cafe115 m
- cafe: Second Cup116 m
- parking lot: Spoiled Baby customer parking117 m
- retail: Yonge Vision118 m
- parking lot118 m
- restaurant: Thaï Express119 m
- retail: Fresh Buy Market120 m
- parking lot130 m
- parking lot131 m
- retail: Circles & Squares Bakery134 m
- highway: Yonge Street134 m
- highway: Yonge Street136 m
- highway: Yonge Street138 m
- parking lot141 m
- highway: Yonge Street141 m
- transit stop: Davisville Avenue146 m
- restaurant: Tamasha152 m
- parking lot155 m
- transit stop: Chaplin Crescent155 m
- transit stop: Davisville158 m
- highway: Yonge Street158 m
- retail: Siinardi Hair Design160 m
- restaurant: The Bull a Firkin Pub162 m
- highway: Yonge Street164 m
- transit stop: 1900 Yonge St Entrance166 m
- transit stop: Davisville Station167 m
- parking lot167 m
- retail: Sightech168 m
- rail: Line 1 Yonge-University169 m
- transit stop: Davisville Station170 m
- transit stop: Davisville Station173 m
- rail: Line 1 Yonge-University173 m
- parking lot174 m
- cafe: Tim Hortons174 m
- restaurant: Subway175 m
- transit stop: Davisville Station178 m
- transit stop: Pailton Crescent178 m
- parking lot180 m
- transit stop: Merton Street180 m
- retail181 m
- retail: First Class Dry Cleaners182 m
- retail: Rossa Linda183 m
- transit stop: Davisville187 m
- retail: Connect World of Hearing188 m
- retail: New You190 m
- transit stop: Davisville Centre Entrance190 m
- highway: Yonge Street190 m
- parking lot193 m
- retail: Gateway Newsstands194 m
- parking lot195 m
- transit stop: Davisville195 m
- retail: LCBO195 m
- highway: Yonge Street196 m
- rail197 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality38th
- Edge activation57th
- Connectivity22th
- Amenity diversity76th
- Natural comfort33th
- Enclosure80th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- Empress Tot LotUrban Plaza33
- OTTER CREEK CENTRE - Building GroundsRavine / Naturalized Park32
- Queens Avenue ParketteUrban Plaza35
- Canon Jackson ParkRavine / Naturalized Park33
- Aneta Circle ParketteUrban Plaza34
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Kew GardensNeighbourhood Park75
- Leslie Grove ParkParkette73
- Bellevue Square ParkCivic Square73
- ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green SpaceUrban Plaza59
- Toronto ZooWaterfront Park67
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 Al Green Sculpture Parkmatters. 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: Parks (Green Space)Polygon boundaries, official names, types. 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.