Ivan Forrest Gardens
Ravine / Naturalized Park, one of the city's strongest overall (score 62, rank ~99th percentile). Strongest: connectivity; weakest: natural comfort.
Photo by Randy McDonald via Google Places · cached 5/9/2026
Data updated
Ivan Forrest Gardens scores 62.1 / 100. Strongest dimensions: connectivity and enclosure / eyes on park. Weakest: amenity diversity (32.3). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.
Area · 0.73 ha
What's here
Getting around
303 m of mapped path. Too little surface tagging to say how much is paved.
No steps mapped on the path network.
Typically 72 m to the nearest bench, and 146 m at the far end.
Nearest parking 58 m away. None of the 3 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 68%
Data confidence: moderate
Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.
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Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Explain this score
Where did the 62 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
Ivan Forrest Gardens works because its connectivity score (79) is one of the city's strongest and its edge activation (52) is also top decile (18 intersections fall within 100 m of the edge).
What limits this park
Ivan Forrest Gardens doesn't have a clear weakness. Every measured dimension is at or above the middle of the pack.
Most distinctive characteristic
Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high connectivity (79, top decile).
Jacobs reading
Ivan Forrest Gardens sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat: moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.
Performance in context
- This park is a strong overperformer for its cohort: raw 62 versus an expected 33 for similar parks (small Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine) (gap +29).
Typology classification
Classified as Ravine / Naturalized Park: 96% ravine overlap, 0% canopy
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 13 active uses (restaurant, retail, transit_stop) 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: OpenStreetMap: cafes, restaurants, shops, schools, community centres, transit, parking, highways, rail. All data sources.
Connectivity
Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 11 mapped paths/walkways and 36 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 18 street intersections within 100 m; 4 streetcar or LRT stops, 6 bus stops within a 400 m walk; 8 estimated access points across ~476 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. All data sources.
Amenity Diversity
4 distinct amenity types in the park (picnic, bench, drinking_water, shelter). Diversity 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. All data sources.
Natural Comfort
Natural-comfort components for this park: ~14.0% effective canopy (0.0% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); 96.1% inside the ravine system; nearest waterbody ~406 m; 20 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (20.0/ha). Reading: ravine-cooled. Source coverage: ravine, 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. All data sources.
Enclosure / Eyes on Park
124 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (11 mid-rise, 113 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 6.4 m (~2 floors); 26.1 buildings per 100 m of 476 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 11 mid-rise edge buildings.
Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights). All data sources.
Border Vacuum Risk
Park edges face the city. No significant border vacuum detected.
Source: OpenStreetMap: highways, rail, parking. All data sources.
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: Not loaded yet: Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles. All data sources.
Amenities (4 types · 11 records)
- picnic
- bench
- drinking water
- shelter
Nearby active-edge features (32)
- transit stop: Glen Manor Drive7 m
- restaurant: Swiss Chalet Express16 m
- retail: U Design Gallery22 m
- retail: Roula & Thomas Hair Salon22 m
- transit stop: Glen Manor Drive23 m
- retail: Royal LePage26 m
- retail: Home Hardware31 m
- retail: Remax Hallmark41 m
- restaurant: Beacher Cafe57 m
- parking lot58 m
- retail: Hallmark59 m
- retail: The Source67 m
- parking lot68 m
- retail: 4Cats Arts Studio73 m
- retail: Mastermind Toys99 m
- retail: Essential Natural Memory Foam Mattresses100 m
- parking lot: Queen/Hammersmith100 m
- retail: Benjamin Moore114 m
- retail: Tori's Bakeshop120 m
- retail: Sleep Country123 m
- retail: Hasty Market130 m
- retail: The UPS Store130 m
- restaurant: Pizzaiolo141 m
- school: Sandpiper Montessori School144 m
- cafe: La Diperie149 m
- retail: Rowe Beach Market156 m
- retail: Flirt your Inner Beauty168 m
- retail: Arts on Queen175 m
- school: Toronto Nature School176 m
- retail: Florathecary181 m
- restaurant: Yumei Sushi187 m
- restaurant: Castro's Launge191 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality99th
- Edge activation96th
- Connectivity98th
- Amenity diversity84th
- Natural comfort77th
- Enclosure82th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- Bickford ParkRavine / Naturalized Park61
- Skymark ParkOther57
- Perth Square ParkCivic Square59
- Dr. Lillian Mcgregor ParkUrban Plaza59
- Malta ParkUrban Plaza61
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park21
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park18
- Trca Lands ( 58)Ravine / Naturalized Park18
- Toronto Islands - Muggs Island ParkRavine / Naturalized Park26
- Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
Visitor signals
Public attention measured by Google Places aggregates. This proxies attention, not occupancy. Aggregate-only: no usernames, no review text, no extra photos beyond the cached hero.
p84 citywide · p83 within Ravine / Naturalized Park
Source: Google Places API · match unverified (0.00 composite confidence) · last refreshed 5/9/2026. Privacy contract. Measures public attention, not occupancy.
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 Ivan Forrest Gardens 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.
- Diversify what people can do in the park (playground, washroom, water, shade, performance, sport, garden): even small additions raise this score.
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.
- OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.