Neighbourhood Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)York University Heights (27)confidence moderatereal Toronto data

Brookwell Park

Neighbourhood Park, above average overall (score 39, rank ~72th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: edge activation.

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

Brookwell Park scores 39.2 / 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 for:daily urban life

Area · 1.12 ha

Vitality Score

39/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence

39.2 / 100

Citywide

72nd

of all 3,273 parks

Among Neighbourhood Park

60th

same primary typology

Expected for similar parks

median in medium Neighbourhood Park (n=363)

Performance gap

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 39 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 · p45

-12.5

Amenity Diversity21 · p90

-5.8

Border Vacuum Risk12 (risk)

+3.8

Enclosure / Eyes on Park70 · p69

+2.0

Connectivity59 · p73

+1.9

Natural Comfort49 · p57

-0.2

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

Brookwell Park works because its amenity diversity score (21) is in the top tier and its connectivity (59) is also above-average.

What limits this park

Brookwell Park doesn't have a clear weakness — every measured dimension is at or above the middle of the pack.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (21, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

Brookwell 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 (70) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0) — frame without animation.

Typology classification

confidence 70%

Neighbourhood Park

Classified as Neighbourhood Park: 1.1 ha, framed by 4 mid-rise vs 0 towers

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%

0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 1 active uses (school) and 2 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%

59.4 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 5 mapped paths/walkways and 12 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 6 street intersections within 100 m; 20 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 4 estimated access points across ~605 m of perimeter. low edge density — significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m3

Intersections within 100 m6

Paths/walkways (50 m)5

Sidewalk segments (50 m)12

Transit stops (400 m)20

Estimated entrances4

Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.50

Park perimeter605 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%

21.0 / 100

2 distinct amenity types in the park (basketball, playground). 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% weightmeasured 75%

48.9 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 9.1% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~391 m; 3 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (2.7/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 coverage9.1%

Canopy area0.10 ha

Inside ravine system0.0%

Water surface inside park0.0%

Nearest water (if outside park)391 m

Estimated green100.0%

City-mapped trees inside polygon3

Tree density2.7 / ha

Cover diversity (Shannon, 0–100)43.9

Sample points used77

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%

70.1 / 100

54 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (4 mid-rise, 50 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 7.2 m (~2 floors); 8.9 buildings per 100 m of 605 m perimeter — strong frontage density; edges are low-rise (mostly 2–3 floors); no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 4 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m54

Buildings within 50 m54

Avg edge height7.2 m (~2 floors)

Tallest edge building30.8 m

Mid-rise (3–7 floors)4

Low-rise (< 3 floors)50

Towers (≥ 13 floors)0

Frontage density8.93 per 100 m perimeter

Mid-rise share of edge7%

Tower share of edge0%

Blank-edge share (proxy)0%

Park perimeter605 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%

12.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: 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 (2 types · 2 records)

basketball
playground

Nearby active-edge features (27)

parking lot22 m
school — Africentric Alternative School82 m
parking lot91 m
parking lot112 m
transit stop — 1450 Sheppard Avenue West129 m
transit stop — Sentinel Rd at Sheppard Avenue W130 m
transit stop — Sheppard Avenue W at Sentinel Rd134 m
transit stop139 m
transit stop — Sentinel Rd at Fredrick Mowat Lane148 m
retail — Bob Variety Store150 m
restaurant — Pizza Pizza150 m
restaurant — Mang Tomas Lechon150 m
restaurant — Mumtaz Grill Restaurant150 m
restaurant — Pho Huong Trang151 m
transit stop — Sentinel Rd at Fredrick Mowat Lane153 m
transit stop — Sentinel Rd at Sheppard Avenue W156 m
parking lot157 m
retail — AyaSofya Super Market158 m
retail — Ryna's Nail Keele Beauty and Spa159 m
parking lot161 m
parking lot162 m
parking lot165 m
parking lot178 m
retail182 m
parking lot184 m
parking lot188 m
parking lot190 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

Overall vitality
72th
Edge activation
45th
Connectivity
73th
Amenity diversity
90th
Natural comfort
57th
Enclosure
69th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

Glen Long ParkNeighbourhood Park35
Laburnham ParkNeighbourhood Park29
Centre ParkNeighbourhood Park37
Old Sheppard ParkNeighbourhood Park40
Mitchell Field ParkNeighbourhood Park36

Most opposite parks

Furthest in metric space — useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.

Market Lane ParkUrban Plaza63
ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green SpaceUrban Plaza59
Ryerson Community ParkUrban Plaza60
Leslie Grove ParkParkette68
Simcoe ParkTower-Community Green Space51

Human activity signals

Programming, social attention, temporal rhythm, and nearby pedestrian / cycling flow. An experimental aggregate layer that complements the spatial scores — partial coverage, partial confidence.

confidence 35%

Overall activity

9/ 100

8.8 / 100

Programming / events

0unknown

Social attention

8unknown

Temporal rhythm

13unknown

Pedestrian / cycling flow

19real

Cultural significance

15unknown

Activity reading: pedestrian intensity 11.9/100; cycling/trail 19.9/100. The strongest signal is observed pedestrian/cycling activity. Source coverage: counters.

Does this score feel accurate?

Your read of Brookwell Parkmatters. 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.

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.

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.