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Toronto Parks Atlas
Redpath Avenue Parkette, site photograph
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Civic Squarecluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)Mount Pleasant West (104)confidence moderate

Redpath Avenue Parkette

Civic Square, middle of the pack overall (score 38, rank ~66th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: edge activation.

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

Redpath Avenue Parkette scores 38.3 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (36). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best forpublic eventsdowntown gathering

Area · 0.32 ha

What's here

Recreation
Playground
Facilities
Drinking waterBenches
Vitality Score
38/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 70%

Data Confidence
38.3 / 100
Citywide
66th
of all 3,788 parks
Among Civic Square
40th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
45
median in small Civic Square (n=28)
Performance gap
-7
raw − expected · context confidence medium
modest underperformer

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 38 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 · p43
-12.5
Amenity Diversity27 · p79
-4.5
Enclosure / Eyes on Park69 · p69
+1.9
Connectivity58 · p74
+1.6
Border Vacuum Risk36 (risk)
+1.4
Natural Comfort53 · p69
+0.5

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

Redpath Avenue Parkette works because its amenity diversity score (27) is above average and its connectivity (58) is also above-average.

What limits this park

Redpath Avenue Parkette's edges are fronted by border-vacuum land uses (highways, rail, parking, blank institutional), risk score 36.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (27, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

Redpath Avenue Parkette 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 (69) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.

Performance in context

  • Reads as a modest underperformer relative to comparable parks (gap -7; cohort: small Civic Square).
  • Citywide rank is high (66th) but typology rank is more modest (40th): the strength likely comes from the dataset average pulling lower than this typology’s baseline.

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Civic Square

Classified as Civic Square: tower-walled, low canopy (14%), tight frontage: reads as a civic square

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 1 active uses (retail) and 6 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: OSM POIs (amenity/shop) + Toronto Building Footprints + land use

Connectivity

20% weightmeasured 85%
58.0 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 4 mapped paths/walkways and 10 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 2 street intersections within 100 m; 10 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 6 estimated access points across ~229 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m4
Intersections within 100 m2
Paths/walkways (50 m)4
Sidewalk segments (50 m)10
Transit stops (400 m)10
Estimated entrances6
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter1.75
Park perimeter229 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
27.3 / 100

3 distinct amenity types in the park (playground, bench, drinking_water). 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% weightpartial 60%
53.1 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 13.6% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~718 m; 3 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (3.0/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: treed_area, waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage13.6%
Canopy area0.04 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)718 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon3
Tree density3.0 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)57.5
Sample points used22

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
69.0 / 100

61 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (27 mid-rise, 4 low-rise, 30 tower); avg edge height 41.3 m (~14 floors); 26.7 buildings per 100 m of 229 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges dominated by towers; 30 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 27 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m61
Buildings within 50 m61
Avg edge height41.3 m (~14 floors)
Tallest edge building106.1 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)27
Low-rise (< 3 floors)4
Towers (≥ 13 floors)30
Frontage density26.68 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge44%
Tower share of edge49%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter229 m

Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
36.0 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: 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 (3 types · 4 records)

  • playground
  • bench
  • drinking water

Nearby active-edge features (22)

  • parking lot15 m
  • parking lot20 m
  • retail: Erskine Tuck Shop25 m
  • parking lot32 m
  • parking lot73 m
  • parking lot78 m
  • parking lot83 m
  • parking lot111 m
  • parking lot115 m
  • parking lot121 m
  • parking lot122 m
  • parking lot124 m
  • parking lot130 m
  • parking lot144 m
  • transit stop: Erskine Avenue172 m
  • transit stop: Erskine Avenue191 m
  • parking lot192 m
  • parking lot194 m
  • restaurant: The Homeway198 m
  • retail: Robyn’s Cookies198 m
  • retail: Circle K199 m
  • retail: Bob's Garden Centre199 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureRedpath Avenue 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
    66th
  • Edge activation
    43th
  • Connectivity
    74th
  • Amenity diversity
    79th
  • Natural comfort
    69th
  • Enclosure
    69th

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 Redpath Avenue Parkettematters. 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.
  • Diversify what people can do in the park (playground, washroom, water, shade, performance, sport, garden): even small additions raise this score.
  • 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.