MACKENZIE HOUSE - Building Grounds
Urban Plaza, above average overall (score 42, rank ~79th percentile). Strongest: edge activation; weakest: natural comfort.
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Data updated
MACKENZIE HOUSE - Building Grounds scores 42.3 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and edge activation. Weakest: amenity diversity (14.4). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (36). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.
Area · 0.06 ha
What's here
Getting around
No walking paths mapped in OpenStreetMap.
No seating mapped in OpenStreetMap.
Nearest parking 4 m away. None of the 6 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 65%
Data confidence: moderate
Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.
Loading map…
The parks map is loading.Grounds of a City building, not a designated park. It is left out of park rankings.
Public art in this park
1Mackenzie Panels
Jeffrey G.W. Hahn, 1938
Sculpture · masonry
Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art
Numbers match the pins on the map. Works near the park are within 30 m of its edge.
Explain this score
Where did the 42 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
MACKENZIE HOUSE - Building Grounds works because its edge activation score (45) is in the top tier and its enclosure (88) is also top decile.
What limits this park
MACKENZIE HOUSE - Building Grounds is held back by natural comfort (31, bottom quartile): only 0% canopy means little summer shade; border-vacuum risk is also elevated (36).
Most distinctive characteristic
Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high edge activation (45, top decile).
Jacobs reading
MACKENZIE HOUSE - Building Grounds sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat: moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.
Tradeoffs
- 19 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy: passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.
Typology classification
Classified as Urban Plaza: 556 m², paved (0% canopy), 77.2 buildings/100 m
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 20 active uses (restaurant, retail, transit_stop, community, cafe) and 4 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 0 mapped paths/walkways and 7 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 8 street intersections within 100 m; 2 subway or GO stations, 5 streetcar or LRT stops, 5 bus stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~102 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. All data sources.
Amenity Diversity
1 distinct amenity types in the park (art). Diversity drives the score, so a park with many distinct activity types can outrank a larger park that repeats the same use. 1 public artwork in the park adds a bonus for the number of works.
Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags. All data sources.
Natural Comfort
Natural-comfort components for this park: 0.0% estimated tree canopy; 1 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (1.0/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: 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
79 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (44 mid-rise, 16 low-rise, 19 tower); avg edge height 24.9 m (~8 floors); 77.2 buildings per 100 m of 102 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges lean tall but still framed; 19 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 44 mid-rise edge buildings.
Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights). All data sources.
Border Vacuum Risk
Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, 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: 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 (1)
- art
Nearby active-edge features (80)
- parking lot4 m
- parking lot24 m
- restaurant: PomAnar Grill & Juicery28 m
- retail: Hakim Optical34 m
- restaurant: Jazz Bistro34 m
- retail: Hakim Optical Factory Outlet35 m
- retail: Butterfield and Robinson Travel36 m
- parking lot40 m
- restaurant: Senator Restaurant41 m
- restaurant: The Senator42 m
- retail: Discount Textbooks58 m
- parking lot59 m
- cafe: Twilight Cafe67 m
- community: Toronto Met Catholics68 m
- restaurant: Subway72 m
- restaurant: Hokkaido Ramen Santouka76 m
- retail: Jewellery & Diamond Center76 m
- restaurant81 m
- restaurant: Egg Club86 m
- restaurant: KFC89 m
- retail: Digital Xpress90 m
- transit stop: Church Street91 m
- retail: Classic Nails & Spa94 m
- restaurant: Taco Bell99 m
- retail: Notebook Depot101 m
- restaurant: Subway107 m
- cafe: Starbucks110 m
- retail: INS Market114 m
- restaurant: Tahini's121 m
- restaurant: Martini Bar122 m
- restaurant: Odd Burger124 m
- restaurant: Krispy Kreme127 m
- transit stop: Church Street131 m
- restaurant: Fran's Restaurant136 m
- restaurant: Jack Astor's137 m
- restaurant: Paramount Middle Eastern Kitchen138 m
- restaurant: Khazana139 m
- restaurant: Alforat Iraqi Street Food140 m
- retail: Downtown Jewellery Mart140 m
- retail: Spellbound Salon140 m
- retail: EB Games140 m
- restaurant: 3 Brewers140 m
- parking lot144 m
- retail: Hop on-hop off Toronto bus tours tickets and first stop145 m
- restaurant: Alpha’s Shawarma145 m
- restaurant: Burger King147 m
- retail: Money Mart150 m
- cafe: Tim Hortons152 m
- retail: Stag Shop152 m
- highway: Yonge Street153 m
- restaurant: Delhi Momos153 m
- restaurant: Chachu's153 m
- restaurant: Haidilao Hot Pot155 m
- transit stop: Sankofa Square Elevator161 m
- transit stop: Sankofa Square Entrance163 m
- retail: Henry's167 m
- transit stop: Toronto Eaton Centre168 m
- restaurant: Jack Astor's172 m
- restaurant: Spring Sushi172 m
- retail: Urban Outfitters174 m
- highway: Yonge Street174 m
- restaurant: Heal175 m
- restaurant: Szechuan Express175 m
- cafe: Starbucks176 m
- restaurant: Akashiro176 m
- highway: Yonge Street176 m
- restaurant: Sbarro176 m
- retail: Dundas Market176 m
- restaurant: Chick-fil-A177 m
- transit stop: Dundas Street179 m
- restaurant: Kabul Express Authentic Afghan Grill180 m
- restaurant: Milestones180 m
- cafe: Bagel Stop181 m
- restaurant: Shark Club Sports Bar Grill181 m
- retail: Hot Topic182 m
- retail: Bell183 m
- retail: Aldo183 m
- retail: Bentley184 m
- restaurant: Jugo Juice184 m
- transit stop: Yonge Street184 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality79th
- Edge activation94th
- Connectivity44th
- Amenity diversity65th
- Natural comfort16th
- Enclosure94th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- BARBARA FRUM RECREATION CENTRE - Building GroundsUrban Plaza46
- Sally Bird ParkUrban Plaza49
- Holmes ParkUrban Plaza42
- Ed And Anne Mirvish ParketteUrban Plaza48
- Glengarry ParkUrban Plaza43
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park28
- Toronto Islands - Muggs Island ParkRavine / Naturalized Park26
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park26
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park30
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 MACKENZIE HOUSE - Building Grounds 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.