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Toronto Parks Atlas
Amos Waites Park, site photograph
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Neighbourhood ParkType:Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Park (large-scale)Humber Bay Shores

Amos Waites Park

Neighbourhood Park, middle of the pack overall (score 38, rank ~66th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: edge activation.

Photo by Makeworldpedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Amos Waites Park scores 38.4 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (100). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best fordaily urban lifefamilies

Area · 1.57 ha

What's here

Recreation
PlaygroundTennisPoolTable tennis
Facilities
WashroomPicnic areaShelterBenches

Getting around

Paths

301 m of mapped path, 100% paved.

1 flight of steps on the mapped network.

Seating

Not enough mapped seating to assess (4 benches mapped).

Arrival

Parking inside the park. 1 of 37 nearby lots reporting 2 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.

Vitality Score
38/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence
38.4 / 100

Data confidence: moderate

Citywide
66th
of all 3,788 parks
Among Neighbourhood Park
45th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
39
median in medium Neighbourhood Park (n=393)
Performance gap
-1
raw − expected · context confidence high
typical

Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.

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Street context. Park polygon highlighted on the citywide map. Connectivity, transit, and edge conditions read at a glance.
Amos Waites Park, aerial top-down view
Top-down view. City of Toronto orthophoto, ~8 cm/px. Reads the park’s footprint, paths, treed area, and edge conditions from above. City of Toronto Orthophoto · cot_ortho most-current MapServer · cached 5/9/2026.

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 38 come from? Each weighted contribution against a neutral 50 baseline. Green = pushed up; red = pulled down.

Download JSON
What pushed this score up or down vs a neutral 50weight × score
Edge Activation0 · p37
-12.5
Border Vacuum Risk100 (risk)
-5.0
Connectivity67 · p88
+3.4
Enclosure / Eyes on Park75 · p77
+2.5
Natural Comfort52 · p68
+0.3
Amenity Diversity49 · p97
-0.3

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

Amos Waites Park works because its amenity diversity score (49) is one of the city's strongest and its connectivity (67) is also top quartile (8 distinct amenity types support different kinds of use).

What limits this park

Amos Waites Park's edges are fronted by border-vacuum land uses (highways, rail, parking, blank institutional), risk score 100.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (49, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Amos Waites 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 (75) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.
  • High connectivity coexists with high border-vacuum risk (100): much of that connectivity is to highways, rail, or parking lots, not to neighbourhoods.

Performance in context

  • Citywide rank is high (66th) but typology rank is more modest (45th): the strength likely comes from the dataset average pulling lower than this typology’s baseline.

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Neighbourhood Park

Classified as Neighbourhood Park: 1.6 ha, framed by 10 mid-rise vs 0 towers

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 36 active uses (transit_stop, retail, restaurant) and 22 dead/hostile uses (parking_lot, highway). 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

20% weightmeasured 85%
66.9 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 29 mapped paths/walkways and 21 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 7 street intersections within 100 m; 11 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 4 estimated access points across ~668 m of perimeter. moderate edge density, small superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m5
Intersections within 100 m7
Paths/walkways (50 m)29
Sidewalk segments (50 m)21
Transit stops (400 m)11
Estimated entrances4
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.75
Park perimeter668 m

Source: Toronto Centreline V2 + Pedestrian Network + OSM transit stops

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
48.5 / 100

8 distinct amenity types in the park (playground, tennis, washroom, bench, picnic, pool, …). 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

15% weightmeasured 75%
52.1 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: ~16.5% effective canopy (0.9% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); nearest waterbody ~114 m; 37 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (23.6/ha). Reading: water-cooled. Source coverage: treed_area, waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage0.9%
Canopy area0.01 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)114 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon37
Tree density23.6 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)7.5
Sample points used109

Source: Toronto Treed Area + Ravine + Waterbodies + Street Tree Inventory

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
74.6 / 100

51 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (10 mid-rise, 41 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 7.8 m (~3 floors); 7.6 buildings per 100 m of 668 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are low-rise (mostly 2 to 3 floors); no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 10 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m51
Buildings within 50 m51
Avg edge height7.8 m (~3 floors)
Tallest edge building25.5 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)10
Low-rise (< 3 floors)41
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density7.63 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge20%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter668 m

Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
100.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, Lake Shore Boulevard West. 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

contextinferred 15%
50.0 / 100

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 (8 types · 19 records)

  • playground
  • tennis
  • washroom
  • bench
  • picnic
  • pool
  • shelter
  • table tennis

Nearby active-edge features (80)

  • parking lot0 m
  • parking lot0 m
  • restaurant: Mangoes3 m
  • restaurant: Nimman3 m
  • retail4 m
  • retail: Jac's Milk7 m
  • parking lot7 m
  • parking lot8 m
  • highway: Lake Shore Boulevard West9 m
  • restaurant: Maurya East Indian Roti Cuisine10 m
  • transit stop: Mimico Avenue11 m
  • retail: Freedom Mobile12 m
  • retail: Gud Daae gluten free sandwiches13 m
  • retail: BooBoo Pet Grooming Serices13 m
  • retail: Coin Laundry13 m
  • parking lot13 m
  • transit stop: Mimico Avenue15 m
  • retail: Broke Billonares18 m
  • parking lot22 m
  • transit stop: Mimico Avenue22 m
  • parking lot25 m
  • retail: International Hair Salon25 m
  • retail: Chatr29 m
  • retail: Money Shop29 m
  • restaurant: Krispy Kreme29 m
  • parking lot36 m
  • restaurant: Mixi Culinary Project37 m
  • parking lot39 m
  • restaurant: Canadiana41 m
  • retail: XL Laundromat & Dry Cleaners42 m
  • retail: Tammy's Spaw44 m
  • retail: Lakeview Cannabis45 m
  • retail: Q-Market48 m
  • parking lot48 m
  • restaurant: New Flower Drum49 m
  • parking lot50 m
  • parking lot51 m
  • retail52 m
  • restaurant: Pebbles Restaurant57 m
  • transit stop: Mimico Ave at Lake Shore Blvd West58 m
  • parking lot58 m
  • restaurant: Kothur58 m
  • parking lot60 m
  • retail: Glow Body Tans & Spa64 m
  • restaurant: Golden Stove64 m
  • retail67 m
  • restaurant: Alppalachia70 m
  • parking lot72 m
  • parking lot73 m
  • parking lot74 m
  • retail: A-1 Discount Variety & Dollar76 m
  • parking lot77 m
  • retail: Lost Beaches Travel Co.92 m
  • parking lot93 m
  • transit stop: Superior Avenue96 m
  • retail: Home Hardware96 m
  • parking lot97 m
  • parking lot97 m
  • parking lot102 m
  • parking lot108 m
  • parking lot110 m
  • parking lot111 m
  • parking lot117 m
  • restaurant: Pearl Sushi124 m
  • cafe: Mimico Coffee & Bagel128 m
  • transit stop: Superior Avenue129 m
  • parking lot131 m
  • parking lot133 m
  • retail: Specs and Spines135 m
  • restaurant: New West City Resturant & Bar138 m
  • parking lot138 m
  • highway: Lake Shore Boulevard West141 m
  • retail: A-1 Bargain & Dollar Store142 m
  • retail: Elevate Barbershop146 m
  • parking lot156 m
  • parking lot162 m
  • parking lot164 m
  • retail164 m
  • retail: Home New Port170 m
  • restaurant: Subway176 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureAmos Waites Park
Edge activation, connectivity, amenity diversity, natural comfort, and enclosure, each 0 to 100.

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

  • Overall vitality
    66th
  • Edge activation
    37th
  • Connectivity
    88th
  • Amenity diversity
    97th
  • Natural comfort
    68th
  • Enclosure
    77th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

Most opposite parks

Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.

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 Amos Waites Park 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.

Rate this park on as many dimensions as you have an opinion about. 1 = not at all, 5 = strongly. Skip the ones you don't feel sure about. Aggregated only, no comments stored at the row level.

feels socially active
feels comfortable
feels safe
feels connected
feels welcoming
feels ecological / natural
feels good for lingering
feels family-friendly
feels culturally important
70%

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.
  • Diversify what people can do in the park (playground, washroom, water, shade, performance, sport, garden): even small additions raise this score.
  • Mitigate border vacuums (highways, rail, parking) with active programming on the still-permeable edges and treat the hostile edge as a design challenge.

Data sources

real Toronto data
  • 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 Facilities
    Inventory of in-park amenities (washrooms, fields, rinks…).
  • Toronto Pedestrian Network
    Sidewalk segments around and through parks; estimated park entrances.
  • Toronto Centreline V2
    Street segments + intersection nodes near park edges; trails and walkways.
  • Toronto 3D Massing
    Building footprints + heights for edge-building counts, frontage density, and tower-in-the-park risk.
  • Toronto Treed Area
    Tree canopy share inside park polygons via stratified-grid sampling.
  • Toronto Waterbodies & Rivers
    Water surface inside parks + nearest-water distance for cooling.
  • Ravine & Natural Feature Protection
    Ravine overlap as a cooling / natural-comfort signal.
  • Toronto Street Tree Inventory
    Tree count + density inside park polygons.
  • Neighbourhood Profiles
    (Pending) Equity context proxy.
  • OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)
    Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.