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Urban PlazaType:Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Park (enclosure-leaning)Weston-Pelham Park

Prescott Parkette

Urban Plaza, in the top tier overall (score 51, rank ~95th percentile). Strongest: edge activation; weakest: natural comfort.

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Data updated

Prescott Parkette scores 51.3 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and edge activation. Weakest: amenity diversity (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 · 0.14 ha

Getting around

Paths

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

Too little path mapped to check for steps.

Seating

No seating mapped in OpenStreetMap.

Arrival

Nearest parking 17 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.

Vitality Score
51/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 56%

Data Confidence
51.3 / 100

Data confidence: moderate

Citywide
95th
of all 3,753 parks
Among Urban Plaza
90th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
38
median in pocket Urban Plaza (n=352)
Performance gap
+13
raw − expected · context confidence high
strong overperformer

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

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

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 51 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
Amenity Diversity0 · p50
-10.0
Edge Activation74 · p99
+5.9
Natural Comfort23 · p2
-4.1
Border Vacuum Risk12 (risk)
+3.8
Connectivity66 · p85
+3.2
Enclosure / Eyes on Park75 · p78
+2.5

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

Prescott Parkette works because its edge activation score (74) is one of the city's strongest and its connectivity (66) is also top quartile (its perimeter is lined with active uses).

What limits this park

Prescott Parkette is held back by natural comfort (23, bottom quartile): only 0% canopy means little summer shade.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high edge activation (74, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Prescott Parkette is a dense urban social park. Jacobs would recognise it: lots of eyes, lots of streets, lots of edge life; not where you go to escape.

Tradeoffs

  • Connectivity (66) significantly outpaces natural comfort (23): well placed in the city but offers little shade or ecological respite.

Performance in context

  • This park is a strong overperformer for its cohort: raw 51 versus an expected 38 for similar parks (pocket Urban Plaza) (gap +13).

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Urban Plaza

Classified as Urban Plaza: 1432 m², paved (0% canopy), 43.5 buildings/100 m

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
73.8 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 27 active uses (retail, transit_stop, cafe, restaurant) 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%
65.8 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 4 mapped paths/walkways and 22 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 19 street intersections within 100 m; 7 streetcar or LRT stops, 2 bus stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~186 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m6
Intersections within 100 m19
Paths/walkways (50 m)4
Sidewalk segments (50 m)22
Transit stops (400 m)9 (0 subway/GO, 7 streetcar/LRT, 2 bus)
Estimated entrances0
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter3.22
Park perimeter186 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightinferred 30%
0.0 / 100

No amenities recorded.

Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags. All data sources.

Natural Comfort

15% weightinferred 24%
22.9 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 0.0% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~1207 m. Reading: exposed. Source coverage: waterbodies. 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)1,207 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon0
Tree density0.0 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)0.0
Sample points used14

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
75.0 / 100

81 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (2 mid-rise, 79 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 6.3 m (~2 floors); 43.5 buildings per 100 m of 186 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 2 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m81
Buildings within 50 m81
Avg edge height6.3 m (~2 floors)
Tallest edge building9.2 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)2
Low-rise (< 3 floors)79
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density43.47 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge3%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter186 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
12.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: Carpark 133. 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

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 (0)

No amenities recorded for this park.

Nearby active-edge features (51)

  • parking lot: Carpark 13317 m
  • retail: St. Clair Bakery32 m
  • restaurant: Flor do Ave33 m
  • retail: Boston Variety34 m
  • restaurant: El Rancherito36 m
  • retail: Lucky Star Flowers39 m
  • restaurant: Samba41 m
  • cafe: Aunty Em's Deli & Coffee49 m
  • restaurant: Unique Cafe Restaurant58 m
  • restaurant: Sabors Tradicionais61 m
  • retail: Librarie Mosaique63 m
  • transit stop: Laughton64 m
  • transit stop: Laughton65 m
  • restaurant: Marina’s Casa da Comida66 m
  • retail: Golden Star69 m
  • retail: Dollar & Variety Store71 m
  • cafe: Capri Caffe72 m
  • retail: City Nails72 m
  • retail: Bad Buddha Tattoes74 m
  • retail: Sandro's Barber Shop75 m
  • retail: Versatile Barbers & Hair Studio76 m
  • retail: West York Appliances & Furniture78 m
  • retail: TJ Fine Upholstering Furniture79 m
  • retail: Art Collective CODA80 m
  • retail: Power Coin Laundry81 m
  • retail: Sister's Choice82 m
  • cafe: Portovelo Cafe84 m
  • restaurant: Garagem 167593 m
  • restaurant: Sabor Brazil101 m
  • cafe: Venti Twenty104 m
  • retail: Benjamin Moore105 m
  • retail: Tokes & Tins107 m
  • restaurant: Távora108 m
  • retail: Tip Top Barbershop109 m
  • parking lot111 m
  • retail112 m
  • restaurant: Marinho Sports Bar115 m
  • retail: Hi-Five Computer121 m
  • parking lot125 m
  • retail: Newediuk Funeral Home127 m
  • retail: Salon Dionne137 m
  • transit stop: Silverthorn Avenue138 m
  • retail: Victoria Dry Cleaners141 m
  • rail: Newmarket Subdivision142 m
  • retail: St. Lucia Variety163 m
  • retail172 m
  • retail: Calabria Wearing179 m
  • cafe: Wallace Espresso179 m
  • retail: Alli's Fresh Baked184 m
  • restaurant: King's Delight195 m
  • transit stop: Caledonia195 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosurePrescott Parkette
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
    95th
  • Edge activation
    99th
  • Connectivity
    85th
  • Amenity diversity
    50th
  • Natural comfort
    2th
  • Enclosure
    78th

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 Prescott Parkette 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.

  • 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.