Skip to content
Toronto Parks Atlas
Glen Stewart Park, site photograph
Back to map
Ravine / Naturalized ParkType:Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Park (enclosure-leaning)The Beaches

Glen Stewart Park

Ravine / Naturalized Park, in the top tier overall (score 51, rank ~94th percentile). Strongest: connectivity; weakest: natural comfort.

Photo by Clement Lo via Google Places · cached 5/9/2026

Data updated

Glen Stewart Park scores 50.8 / 100. Strongest dimensions: connectivity and enclosure / eyes on park. Weakest: amenity diversity (21). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (42). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best forescape into nature

Area · 7.88 ha

What's here

Facilities
Picnic areaBenches

Getting around

Paths

1.1 km of mapped path, 9% paved.

3 flights of steps on the mapped network.

Seating

Typically 80 m to the nearest bench, and 168 m at the far end.

Arrival

Nearest parking 45 m away. None of the 4 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 68%

Data Confidence
50.8 / 100

Data confidence: moderate

Citywide
94th
of all 3,753 parks
Among Ravine / Naturalized Park
96th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
37
median in large Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine (n=117)
Performance gap
+14
raw − expected · context confidence high
strong overperformer

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. Connectivity, transit, and edge conditions read at a glance.
Glen Stewart Park, aerial top-down view
Top-down view. City of Toronto orthophoto, ~8 cm/px. Reads the park’s footprint, paths, treed area, and edge conditions from above. City of Toronto Orthophoto · cot_ortho most-current MapServer · cached 5/9/2026.

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 Diversity21 · p69
-5.8
Connectivity79 · p98
+5.7
Enclosure / Eyes on Park73 · p76
+2.3
Natural Comfort41 · p38
-1.3
Edge Activation46 · p95
-1.0
Border Vacuum Risk42 (risk)
+0.8

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

Glen Stewart Park works because its connectivity score (79) is one of the city's strongest and its edge activation (46) is also top decile (17 transit stops sit within a 400 m walk; 38 intersections fall within 100 m of the edge).

What limits this park

Glen Stewart Park's edges are fronted by border-vacuum land uses (highways, rail, parking, blank institutional), risk score 42.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high connectivity (79, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Glen Stewart Park sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat: moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.

Tradeoffs

  • Connectivity (79) significantly outpaces natural comfort (41): 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 37 for similar parks (large Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine) (gap +14).

Typology classification

confidence 75%
Ravine / Naturalized Parkalso reads as Corridor / Linear Park

Classified as Ravine / Naturalized Park: 97% ravine overlap, 0% canopy. Secondary read: Corridor / Linear Park (shape elongation 2.7× a circle of equal area).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
46.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 14 active uses (transit_stop, community, retail, cafe) and 3 dead/hostile uses (highway, 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%
78.6 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 9 mapped paths/walkways and 60 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 38 street intersections within 100 m; 8 streetcar or LRT stops, 9 bus stops within a 400 m walk; 9 estimated access points across ~2,684 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m30
Intersections within 100 m38
Paths/walkways (50 m)9
Sidewalk segments (50 m)60
Transit stops (400 m)17 (0 subway/GO, 8 streetcar/LRT, 9 bus)
Estimated entrances9
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter1.12
Park perimeter2,684 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
21.0 / 100

2 distinct amenity types in the park (picnic, bench). 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% weightpartial 45%
41.4 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 0.0% estimated tree canopy; 97.3% inside the ravine system; 0.9% water surface; 7 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (0.9/ha). Reading: ravine-cooled. Source coverage: ravine, 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 system97.3%
Water surface inside park0.9%
Nearest water (if outside park)0 m (inside)
Estimated green99.1%
City-mapped trees inside polygon7
Tree density0.9 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)12.8
Sample points used112

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
73.4 / 100

383 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (34 mid-rise, 349 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 6.5 m (~2 floors); 14.3 buildings per 100 m of 2,684 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 34 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m383
Buildings within 50 m383
Avg edge height6.5 m (~2 floors)
Tallest edge building26.1 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)34
Low-rise (< 3 floors)349
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density14.27 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge9%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter2,684 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
42.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, Kingston Road. 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 (2 types · 7 records)

  • picnic
  • bench

Nearby active-edge features (41)

  • highway: Kingston Road22 m
  • transit stop: Glen Manor Drive44 m
  • parking lot45 m
  • transit stop: Beech Avenue45 m
  • transit stop: Glen Manor Drive50 m
  • transit stop: Beech Avenue54 m
  • retail: Ava's Appletree54 m
  • retail: Cobalt Gallery58 m
  • retail: Eaune58 m
  • cafe: Black Dog Cafe59 m
  • retail: Skaut59 m
  • community: Balmy Beach Community Recreation Centre66 m
  • retail: Fearless Meat72 m
  • retail: Alma Florists77 m
  • highway: Kingston Road80 m
  • transit stop: Southwood Drive82 m
  • retail: Sun's Milk97 m
  • retail: Beach Sound Records101 m
  • transit stop: Williamson Road103 m
  • retail: Lewis' Auto Service103 m
  • retail: The Black Canary104 m
  • highway: Kingston Road105 m
  • restaurant: Kibo Sushi House116 m
  • retail: Krypto Nails129 m
  • transit stop: Glen Ames129 m
  • retail: Naturally Yours142 m
  • transit stop: Glen Ames145 m
  • transit stop: Williamson Road146 m
  • highway: Kingston Road149 m
  • retail: Trinity Gallery155 m
  • retail: Naturally Yours Health Foods156 m
  • highway: Kingston Road162 m
  • restaurant: 99 Bottles166 m
  • parking lot170 m
  • parking lot175 m
  • retail: Blossom & Tempest175 m
  • retail: The Pegasus Shoppe181 m
  • retail: Sarah's Dry Cleaners183 m
  • retail: Ciao Bella185 m
  • parking lot: Queen/Hammersmith187 m
  • retail: Silver Birch Laundry Toronto191 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureGlen Stewart 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
    94th
  • Edge activation
    95th
  • Connectivity
    98th
  • Amenity diversity
    69th
  • Natural comfort
    38th
  • Enclosure
    76th

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.

Visitor signals

Public attention measured by Google Places aggregates. This proxies attention, not occupancy. Aggregate-only: no usernames, no review text, no extra photos beyond the cached hero.

high-confidence match

“Outdoor preserve featuring a shaded, boardwalk trail winding through a gorge & stream.” (Google editorial summary)

Visitor signal score71 / 100
71.0 / 100

p91 citywide · p94 within Ravine / Naturalized Park

Volume (saturated)67
Density / ha57
Rating contribution90
Match dampener×1.00
Average rating
★ 4.6
out of 5
Ratings collected
1,032
total reviews
Photos uploaded
10
total contributors

Source: Google Places API · match high (0.96 composite confidence) · last refreshed 5/9/2026. Privacy contract. Measures public attention, not occupancy.

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 Glen Stewart 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.
  • 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

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.