Waterfront Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)Lansing-Westgate (38)confidence moderate

Earl Bales Park

Waterfront Park, in the top tier overall (score 46, rank ~88th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: edge activation.

Aerial, City of Toronto orthophoto, ~8 cm/px source · cached 5/9/2026

Earl Bales Park scores 45.8 / 100. Strongest dimensions: natural comfort 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 forwaterfront recreationlong walks

Area · 129.14 ha

What's here

Recreation

PlaygroundOff-leash dog areaFitnessGarden

Facilities

WashroomDrinking waterPicnic areaBBQShelterBenchesCommunity centrePublic art

Vitality Score

46/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence

45.8 / 100

Citywide

88th

of all 3,788 parks

Among Waterfront Park

90th

same primary typology

Expected for similar parks

median in very large Waterfront Park waterfront (n=42)

Performance gap

raw − expected · context confidence high

modest overperformer

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

Loading map…

Street context. Park polygon highlighted on the citywide map.

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 46 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 · p25

-12.5

Connectivity77 · p97

+5.4

Border Vacuum Risk100 (risk)

-5.0

Natural Comfort79 · p92

+4.4

Amenity Diversity59 · p99

+1.8

Enclosure / Eyes on Park67 · p66

+1.7

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

Earl Bales Park works because its amenity diversity score (59) is one of the city's strongest and its connectivity (77) is also top decile (12 distinct amenity types support different kinds of use).

What limits this park

Earl Bales Park is held back by edge activation (0, below-average): the surrounding streets carry too few active uses to spill into the park; border-vacuum risk is also elevated (100).

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (59, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Earl Bales 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 (67) 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

A modest overperformer for its waterfront park typology (+7 vs the median in very large Waterfront Park waterfront).

Typology classification

confidence 85%

Waterfront Parkalso reads as Ravine / Naturalized Park

Classified as Waterfront Park: 5% water surface inside park. Secondary read: Ravine / Naturalized Park (100% ravine overlap, 47% canopy).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%

0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 11 active uses (transit_stop) and 38 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%

77.1 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 80 mapped paths/walkways and 163 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 65 street intersections within 100 m; 24 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 18 estimated access points across ~9,822 m of perimeter. low edge density, significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m46

Intersections within 100 m65

Paths/walkways (50 m)80

Sidewalk segments (50 m)163

Transit stops (400 m)24

Estimated entrances18

Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.47

Park perimeter9,822 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%

59.1 / 100

12 distinct amenity types in the park (community_centre, dog_area, picnic, playground, washroom, art, …). 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%

79.2 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 47.0% estimated tree canopy; 99.8% inside the ravine system; 5.4% water surface; 191 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (1.5/ha). Reading: ravine-cooled. Source coverage: treed_area, ravine, waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage47.0%

Canopy area60.70 ha

Inside ravine system99.8%

Water surface inside park5.4%

Nearest water (if outside park)0 m (inside)

Estimated green94.6%

City-mapped trees inside polygon191

Tree density1.5 / ha

Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)69.0

Sample points used800

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%

67.2 / 100

514 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (70 mid-rise, 444 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 7.2 m (~2 floors); 5.2 buildings per 100 m of 9,822 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 70 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m514

Buildings within 50 m514

Avg edge height7.2 m (~2 floors)

Tallest edge building38.7 m

Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)70

Low-rise (< 3 floors)444

Towers (≥ 13 floors)0

Frontage density5.23 per 100 m perimeter

Mid-rise share of edge14%

Tower share of edge0%

Blank-edge share (proxy)0%

Park perimeter9,822 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, Highway 401 Collector, Highway 401 Express, Highway 401 Collector, Highway 401 Collector, 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

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 (12 types · 44 records)

community centre
dog area
picnic
playground
washroom
art
bbq
bench
drinking water
fitness
garden
shelter

Nearby active-edge features (80)

parking lot0 m
parking lot0 m
parking lot0 m
parking lot0 m
parking lot0 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Bainbridge Avenue2 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Danby Avenue North Side3 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at McAllister Road4 m
transit stop: Sheppard Avenue at Don River Blvd6 m
parking lot9 m
parking lot11 m
parking lot14 m
parking lot14 m
parking lot19 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector19 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Bainbridge Avenue21 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Reiner Road22 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector23 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Danby Avenue25 m
transit stop: Sheppard Avenue at Don River Blvd26 m
parking lot30 m
parking lot32 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector36 m
highway: Highway 401 Express41 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector51 m
highway: Highway 401 Express61 m
highway: Highway 401 Express64 m
parking lot64 m
parking lot67 m
parking lot68 m
parking lot75 m
transit stop: 555 Sheppard Ave West78 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector80 m
parking lot83 m
highway: Highway 401 Express83 m
highway: Yonge Street83 m
parking lot86 m
parking lot93 m
parking lot94 m
parking lot95 m
transit stop: Sheppard Avenue at Bathurst Street East Side96 m
parking lot96 m
highway: Yonge Street96 m
parking lot98 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector99 m
parking lot99 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at York Downs Drive99 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector99 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector100 m
retail: Snow White Dry Cleaners101 m
retail: Sunny Convenience101 m
parking lot103 m
restaurant: China Court104 m
retail: Quick Clean Coin Laundry107 m
highway: Highway 401 Express108 m
parking lot110 m
retail: Mark's International Deli111 m
transit stop: Sheppard Avenue at Bathurst Street113 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Sheppard Avenue West115 m
parking lot117 m
restaurant: Summer House120 m
highway: Highway 401 Express124 m
parking lot126 m
parking lot130 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector135 m
parking lot136 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector140 m
parking lot141 m
highway: Highway 401 Collector142 m
retail: Convenience147 m
highway: Yonge Street151 m
retail: Richmond Kosher Bakery151 m
highway: Yonge Street152 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at York Downs Drive153 m
parking lot157 m
transit stop: Sheppard Avenue at Bathurst Street160 m
transit stop: Bathurst Street at Sheppard Avenue West171 m
parking lot172 m
highway: Highway 401 Express174 m
parking lot176 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

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
88th
Edge activation
25th
Connectivity
97th
Amenity diversity
99th
Natural comfort
92th
Enclosure
66th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

G. Ross Lord ParkWaterfront Park45
Rennie ParkWaterfront Park46
L'Amoreaux North ParkWaterfront Park51
West Deane ParkRavine / Naturalized Park44
Roding ParkRavine / Naturalized Park47

Most opposite parks

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

Arnell PlazaCivic Square50
Queen'S Quay Traffic IslandWaterfront Park49
ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green SpaceUrban Plaza59
Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park18
City Wide Open SpaceUrban Plaza43

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 Earl Bales 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.
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.