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Urban PlazaType:Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Park (enclosure-leaning)South Eglinton-Davisville

Raccoon Park

Urban Plaza, above average overall (score 40, rank ~73th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: natural comfort.

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Data updated

Raccoon Park scores 40.4 / 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.

Best fordaily passing-throughpocket meetings

Area · 0.27 ha

What's here

Recreation
PlaygroundGarden
Facilities
Drinking waterPicnic areaBenches

Getting around

Paths

52 m of mapped path. Too little surface tagging to say how much is paved.

Too little path mapped to check for steps.

Seating

Not enough mapped seating to assess (2 benches mapped).

Arrival

Nearest parking 100 m away. None of the 5 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.

Vitality Score
40/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 66%

Data Confidence
40.4 / 100

Data confidence: moderate

Citywide
73rd
of all 3,753 parks
Among Urban Plaza
57th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
42
median in small Urban Plaza (n=107)
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.

Loading map…

The parks map is loading.
Street context. Park polygon highlighted on the citywide map.

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 40 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 · p30
-12.5
Border Vacuum Risk0 (risk)
+5.0
Enclosure / Eyes on Park82 · p88
+3.2
Natural Comfort34 · p19
-2.5
Amenity Diversity39 · p91
-2.3
Connectivity47 · p54
-0.6

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

Raccoon Park works because its amenity diversity score (39) is in the top tier and its enclosure (82) is also top quartile.

What limits this park

Raccoon Park is held back by natural comfort (34, bottom quartile): only 0% canopy means little summer shade.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (39, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Raccoon 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 (82) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.
  • 27 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy: passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Urban Plaza

Classified as Urban Plaza: 2669 m², paved (0% canopy), 43.7 buildings/100 m

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 0 active uses (none) and 1 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

20% weightmeasured 85%
46.9 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 3 mapped paths/walkways and 5 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 3 street intersections within 100 m; 1 subway or GO station, 1 streetcar or LRT stop, 9 bus stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~213 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m3
Intersections within 100 m3
Paths/walkways (50 m)3
Sidewalk segments (50 m)5
Transit stops (400 m)11 (1 subway/GO, 1 streetcar/LRT, 9 bus)
Estimated entrances0
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter1.41
Park perimeter213 m

Source: Toronto Centreline V2 + Pedestrian Network + OSM transit stops. All data sources.

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
38.6 / 100

5 distinct amenity types in the park (playground, bench, drinking_water, garden, picnic). 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

15% weightinferred 36%
33.6 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: ~2.1% effective canopy (0.0% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); nearest waterbody ~1352 m; 3 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (3.0/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage0.0%
Canopy area0.00 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)1,352 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon3
Tree density3.0 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)0.0
Sample points used20

Source: Toronto Treed Area + Ravine + Waterbodies + Street Tree Inventory. All data sources.

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
82.2 / 100

93 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (17 mid-rise, 49 low-rise, 27 tower); avg edge height 27.1 m (~9 floors); 43.7 buildings per 100 m of 213 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges lean tall but still framed; 27 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 17 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m93
Buildings within 50 m93
Avg edge height27.1 m (~9 floors)
Tallest edge building113.5 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)17
Low-rise (< 3 floors)49
Towers (≥ 13 floors)27
Frontage density43.68 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge18%
Tower share of edge29%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter213 m

Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights). All data sources.

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
0.0 risk

Park edges face the city. No significant border vacuum detected.

Source: OpenStreetMap: highways, rail, parking. All data sources.

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: Not loaded yet: Toronto Neighbourhood Profiles. All data sources.

Amenities (5 types · 9 records)

  • playground
  • bench
  • drinking water
  • garden
  • picnic

Nearby active-edge features (23)

  • parking lot100 m
  • parking lot119 m
  • parking lot: Holly Park Garage144 m
  • retail: Farm Boy155 m
  • cafe: Tim Hortons166 m
  • retail: Rogers167 m
  • retail: Hunny Pot Cannabis167 m
  • restaurant: PI CO. Pizza Bar168 m
  • cafe: Hale Coffee174 m
  • parking lot174 m
  • retail: Sweet Apple Nail Spa179 m
  • restaurant: Popeyes182 m
  • transit stop: Opposite 2190 Yonge St182 m
  • retail: Wine Rack186 m
  • retail: Staples187 m
  • restaurant: The Keg188 m
  • retail: west elm189 m
  • highway: Yonge Street189 m
  • highway: Yonge Street193 m
  • parking lot195 m
  • transit stop: Yonge St at Soudan Ave197 m
  • transit stop: 2190 Yonge St (Eglinton Station)199 m
  • highway: Yonge Street199 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureRaccoon 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
    73th
  • Edge activation
    30th
  • Connectivity
    54th
  • Amenity diversity
    91th
  • Natural comfort
    19th
  • Enclosure
    88th

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 Raccoon 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.
  • 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.

Data sources

real Toronto data
  • City of Toronto Open Data: Green Spaces
    Polygon boundaries, official names, land classes. 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.
  • OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)
    Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.