Dunn Avenue Parkette
Urban Plaza, middle of the pack overall (score 38, rank ~64th percentile). Strongest: enclosure; weakest: natural comfort.
Aerial, City of Toronto orthophoto, ~8 cm/px source · cached 5/9/2026
Dunn Avenue Parkette scores 37.7 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. 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 · 0.13 ha
What's here
Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 66%
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 38 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
Dunn Avenue Parkette works because its enclosure score (95) is one of the city's strongest and its connectivity (54) is also above-average (18 mid-rise buildings frame the edge with passive surveillance).
What limits this park
Dunn Avenue Parkette is held back by natural comfort (34, bottom quartile): only 0% canopy means little summer shade.
Most distinctive characteristic
Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high enclosure (95, top decile).
Jacobs reading
Dunn Avenue Parkette 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 (95) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.
Performance in context
- Citywide rank is high (64th) but typology rank is more modest (44th): the strength likely comes from the dataset average pulling lower than this typology’s baseline.
Typology classification
Classified as Urban Plaza: 1256 m², paved (0% canopy), 26.4 buildings/100 m
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 0 active uses (none) and 0 dead/hostile uses (none). 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 2 mapped paths/walkways and 5 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 5 street intersections within 100 m; 19 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 1 estimated access points across ~156 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
1 distinct amenity types in the park (bench). 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: ~1.4% effective canopy (0.0% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); nearest waterbody ~778 m; 2 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (2.0/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
41 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (18 mid-rise, 22 low-rise, 1 tower); avg edge height 11.6 m (~4 floors); 26.4 buildings per 100 m of 156 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are at a Jacobs-scale walkable mid-rise (3 to 7 floors); 1 tower ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 18 mid-rise edge buildings.
Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)
Border Vacuum Risk
Park edges face the city. No significant border vacuum detected.
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 (1 types · 1 records)
- bench
Nearby active-edge features (55)
- community: Masaryk-Cowan Community Centre119 m
- retail: Yioi Beauty Spa119 m
- parking lot134 m
- parking lot141 m
- parking lot142 m
- retail: The Workroom143 m
- restaurant: Simpl Things147 m
- retail: Klute Hair148 m
- parking lot155 m
- parking lot158 m
- restaurant: Daol Korean Restaurant161 m
- cafe: Capital Espresso161 m
- parking lot165 m
- parking lot166 m
- transit stop: Dunn Avenue171 m
- transit stop: Dunn Avenue176 m
- transit stop: O'Hara Avenue178 m
- transit stop: Dunn Avenue181 m
- restaurant: Pharmacy Bar181 m
- retail: Vape Shop Near Me182 m
- retail: Dutch Love Cannabis184 m
- transit stop: Dunn Avenue185 m
- restaurant: The Silver Dollar Room186 m
- parking lot188 m
- retail188 m
- cafe: Boba Tea188 m
- retail: Lumicrest Professional LED Lighting188 m
- retail188 m
- restaurant: Shambhala Kitchen188 m
- cafe: Larry's Place188 m
- retail: Sunny Day Atelier188 m
- retail: Annam Studio189 m
- retail: Queen Nails & Spa189 m
- retail189 m
- retail: Tara Thrift189 m
- retail: My Legacy Cannabis Dispensary189 m
- retail: Best Convenience189 m
- retail: Metro Cycle189 m
- retail: Queen Fresh Market190 m
- retail: Super Land Market190 m
- restaurant: T.O. Lounge190 m
- retail: Common Sort191 m
- retail: JR's Natural Health & Bulk191 m
- retail: Park Agency Print Shop192 m
- restaurant: The Momo House192 m
- restaurant: Popeyes192 m
- retail: Loohoo193 m
- restaurant: Mother India193 m
- restaurant: Loga's Corner194 m
- retail: TO Beauty Bar194 m
- restaurant: Daymi195 m
- restaurant: Skyline Restaurant196 m
- restaurant: Al Jood197 m
- restaurant: Pizza Pizza198 m
- retail: Home Hardware199 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality64th
- Edge activation32th
- Connectivity65th
- Amenity diversity58th
- Natural comfort20th
- Enclosure99th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- Avonshire ParketteUrban Plaza39
- Walmer Rd ParketteUrban Plaza37
- Hillhurst ParketteUrban Plaza38
- FOREST HILL PUBLIC LIBRARY - Building GroundsRavine / Naturalized Park29
- Little Trinity Church LandsUrban Plaza33
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Toronto ZooWaterfront Park67
- Toronto Islands - Island ParkWaterfront Park57
- Kew GardensNeighbourhood Park75
- Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
- Toronto Islands - Centre Island ParkWaterfront Park55
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 Dunn Avenue Parkettematters. 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.
- 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.