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Scarborough Hydro Green Space — site photograph
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Othercluster ·Ravine SliversDorset Park (126)confidence moderatereal Toronto data

Scarborough Hydro Green Space

Other, below average overall (score 27, rank ~18th percentile). Strongest: natural comfort; weakest: connectivity.

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

Scarborough Hydro Green Space scores 26.9 / 100. Strongest dimensions: natural comfort and enclosure / eyes on park. Weakest: amenity diversity (0). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (36). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors — not a definitive judgment.

Best for:varies — see metrics

Area · 0.40 ha

Vitality Score
27/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 59%

Data Confidence
26.9 / 100
Citywide
18th
of all 3,273 parks
Among Other
54th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
24
median in small Other (n=41)
Performance gap
+3
raw − expected · context confidence high
typical

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

Explain this score

Where did the 27 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 Activation2 · p65
-12.0
Amenity Diversity0 · p59
-10.0
Connectivity17 · p6
-6.7
Natural Comfort77 · p89
+4.1
Border Vacuum Risk36 (risk)
+1.4
Enclosure / Eyes on Park51 · p16
+0.1

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

Scarborough Hydro Green Space works because its natural comfort score (77) is in the top tier and its edge activation (2) is also above-average (38% tree canopy provides real shade).

What limits this park

Scarborough Hydro Green Space is held back by connectivity (17, bottom quartile); border-vacuum risk is also elevated (36).

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally low connectivity (17, bottom quartile).

Jacobs reading

Scarborough Hydro Green Space is an ecological retreat. The urban-vitality numbers are low because the park exists outside the everyday city — that's the point of it.

Tradeoffs

  • Natural comfort (77) significantly outpaces connectivity (17) — restorative but hard to reach for daily use.

Performance in context

  • Although its citywide rank is low (18th), it ranks highly among similar others (54th) — strong for what it is, even if the absolute score is moderate.

Typology classification

confidence 30%
Other

Classified as Other: does not meet any specific typology threshold (0.4 ha, 0 amenity types, frontage 2.9/100m)

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
2.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 6 active uses (restaurant, 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% weightpartial 65%
16.7 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 0 mapped paths/walkways and 2 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 0 street intersections within 100 m; 7 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~281 m of perimeter. low edge density — significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m0
Intersections within 100 m0
Paths/walkways (50 m)0
Sidewalk segments (50 m)2
Transit stops (400 m)7
Estimated entrances0
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.00
Park perimeter281 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightinferred 30%
0.0 / 100

No amenities recorded — score is 0 until inventory is loaded.

Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags

Natural Comfort

15% weightmeasured 75%
77.2 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 37.9% estimated tree canopy; 24.1% inside the ravine system; nearest waterbody ~27 m. Reading: water-cooled. Source coverage: treed_area, ravine, waterbodies. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage37.9%
Canopy area0.15 ha
Inside ravine system24.1%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)27 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon0
Tree density0.0 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0–100)98.2
Sample points used29

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
51.1 / 100

8 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (0 mid-rise, 8 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 5.2 m (~2 floors); 2.9 buildings per 100 m of 281 m perimeter — moderate frontage density; edges are barely there or single-storey; no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 0 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m8
Buildings within 50 m8
Avg edge height5.2 m (~2 floors)
Tallest edge building6.6 m
Mid-rise (3–7 floors)0
Low-rise (< 3 floors)8
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density2.85 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge0%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)5%
Park perimeter281 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" — they 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 (0)

No amenities recorded for this park.

Nearby active-edge features (46)

  • parking lot30 m
  • parking lot44 m
  • parking lot46 m
  • parking lot54 m
  • parking lot58 m
  • retail — The Salvation Army67 m
  • parking lot69 m
  • retail89 m
  • retail — Habitat for Humanity ReStore90 m
  • retail91 m
  • retail96 m
  • restaurant — Karaikudi Chettinad South Indian Restaurant99 m
  • retail — Stepheson's Rental Centre101 m
  • retail — Imperial Home Furnishing102 m
  • parking lot103 m
  • retail104 m
  • parking lot107 m
  • parking lot109 m
  • retail — Furniture Selection112 m
  • parking lot120 m
  • transit stop — Kennedy Rd at Forbes Rd122 m
  • retail — Aery Furniture Shop125 m
  • transit stop — Forbes Road153 m
  • parking lot155 m
  • parking lot159 m
  • restaurant — Kairali161 m
  • retail163 m
  • retail164 m
  • retail — Ryder166 m
  • parking lot167 m
  • transit stop — Kennedy Rd at Wickware Gate172 m
  • retail175 m
  • parking lot175 m
  • retail176 m
  • retail — Cash 4 You176 m
  • retail177 m
  • retail — The Brick Outlet178 m
  • restaurant — Jerry's Fish & Chips178 m
  • restaurant — Kim Kim179 m
  • retail — The Chesterfield Shop179 m
  • retail — Telus180 m
  • retail185 m
  • retail187 m
  • parking lot188 m
  • retail189 m
  • retail197 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureScarborough Hydro Green Space

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

  • Overall vitality
    18th
  • Edge activation
    65th
  • Connectivity
    6th
  • Amenity diversity
    59th
  • Natural comfort
    89th
  • Enclosure
    16th

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 Scarborough Hydro Green Spacematters. 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

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.
  • 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 — Parks (Green Space)
    Polygon boundaries, official names, types.
  • 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.