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The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground, site photograph
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ParketteType:Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Park (enclosure-leaning)Fort York-Liberty Village

The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground

Parkette, below average overall (score 28, rank ~23th percentile). Strongest: connectivity; weakest: enclosure.

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

Data updated

The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground scores 28.2 / 100. Strongest dimensions: connectivity and enclosure / eyes on park. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (100). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best fora quiet siteveryday neighbourhood use

Area · 0.83 ha

What's here

Facilities
Public art

Getting around

Paths

101 m of mapped path, 8% paved.

2 flights of steps on the mapped network.

Seating

No seating mapped in OpenStreetMap.

Arrival

Nearest parking 71 m away. 2 of 7 nearby lots reporting 6 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
28/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence
28.2 / 100

Data confidence: moderate

Citywide
23rd
of all 3,753 parks
Among Parkette
21st
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
37
median in small Parkette (n=222)
Performance gap
-9
raw − expected · context confidence high
modest underperformer

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).

Public art in this park

Numbers match the pins on the map. Works near the park are within 30 m of its edge.

Explain this score

Where did the 28 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 · p29
-12.5
Amenity Diversity14 · p65
-7.1
Border Vacuum Risk100 (risk)
-5.0
Connectivity65 · p84
+3.0
Natural Comfort46 · p47
-0.7
Enclosure / Eyes on Park55 · p27
+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

The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground works because its connectivity score (65) is above average and its amenity diversity (14) is also above-average (11 transit stops sit within a 400 m walk; 10 intersections fall within 100 m of the edge).

What limits this park

The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground is held back by enclosure (55, below-average); border-vacuum risk is also elevated (100).

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high connectivity (65, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground is currently underperforming on both axes: neither integrated into the city nor offering deep natural respite. A candidate for design intervention.

Tradeoffs

  • 7 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy: passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.
  • High connectivity coexists with high border-vacuum risk (100): much of that connectivity is to highways, rail, or parking lots, not to neighbourhoods.

Performance in context

  • Reads as a modest underperformer relative to comparable parks (gap -9; cohort: small Parkette).

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Parkette

Classified as Parkette: small (8330 m²) with strong building frontage (4.3 per 100 m)

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 0 active uses (none) and 13 dead/hostile uses (rail, 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%
64.8 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 17 mapped paths/walkways and 5 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 10 street intersections within 100 m; 4 streetcar or LRT stops, 7 bus stops within a 400 m walk; 1 estimated access points across ~371 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m6
Intersections within 100 m10
Paths/walkways (50 m)17
Sidewalk segments (50 m)5
Transit stops (400 m)11 (0 subway/GO, 4 streetcar/LRT, 7 bus)
Estimated entrances1
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter1.62
Park perimeter371 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
14.4 / 100

1 distinct amenity types in the park (art). Diversity drives the score, so a park with many distinct activity types can outrank a larger park that repeats the same use. 1 public artwork in the park adds a bonus for the number of works.

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

Natural Comfort

15% weightmeasured 75%
45.5 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 7.0% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~565 m. Reading: exposed. Source coverage: treed_area, waterbodies. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage7.0%
Canopy area0.06 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)565 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon0
Tree density0.0 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)36.7
Sample points used57

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
55.0 / 100

16 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (8 mid-rise, 1 low-rise, 7 tower); avg edge height 47.2 m (~16 floors); 4.3 buildings per 100 m of 371 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges dominated by towers; 7 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 8 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m16
Buildings within 50 m16
Avg edge height47.2 m (~16 floors)
Tallest edge building120.3 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)8
Low-rise (< 3 floors)1
Towers (≥ 13 floors)7
Frontage density4.32 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge50%
Tower share of edge44%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter371 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
100.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: rail, Oakville Subdivision, rail, Oakville Subdivision, rail, Oakville Subdivision, Oakville Subdivision, Oakville Subdivision. 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 (1)

  • art

Nearby active-edge features (43)

  • rail: Oakville Subdivision11 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision14 m
  • rail20 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision23 m
  • rail27 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision40 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision41 m
  • rail45 m
  • parking lot71 m
  • rail80 m
  • parking lot81 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision89 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision93 m
  • parking lot101 m
  • parking lot107 m
  • retail: Wine Rack107 m
  • cafe: Starbucks109 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision111 m
  • parking lot118 m
  • transit stop: Fleet Street119 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision120 m
  • restaurant: Forest Hill Farmhouse121 m
  • transit stop: Fleet Street131 m
  • highway: Gardiner Expressway132 m
  • transit stop: East Liberty Street151 m
  • highway: Gardiner Expressway155 m
  • transit stop: Strachan Avenue155 m
  • retail: Vent Blow Dry Bar156 m
  • transit stop: Strachan Avenue156 m
  • transit stop: Strachan Avenue157 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision157 m
  • transit stop: Strachan Avenue158 m
  • rail162 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision162 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision163 m
  • parking lot164 m
  • transit stop: Fort York Boulevard176 m
  • rail: Oakville Subdivision177 m
  • rail: Union Station Rail Corridor180 m
  • rail: Union Station Rail Corridor183 m
  • rail: Western Lead183 m
  • parking lot188 m
  • transit stop: Fleet Street194 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureThe Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground
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
    23th
  • Edge activation
    29th
  • Connectivity
    84th
  • Amenity diversity
    65th
  • Natural comfort
    47th
  • Enclosure
    27th

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 The Strachan Avenue Military Burying Ground 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.