Waterfront Parkcluster ·Active-edged · exposed parksDownsview-Roding-CFB (26)confidence moderatereal Toronto data

Trca Lands ( 85)

Waterfront Park, middle of the pack overall (score 36, rank ~59th percentile). Strongest: edge activation; weakest: connectivity.

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

Trca Lands ( 85) scores 36 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and natural comfort. Weakest: amenity diversity (0). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (48). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors — not a definitive judgment.

Best for:waterfront recreationlong walks

Area · 1.02 ha

Vitality Score

36/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 63%

Data Confidence

36.0 / 100

Citywide

59th

of all 3,273 parks

Among Waterfront Park

72nd

same primary typology

Expected for similar parks

median in medium Waterfront Park waterfront (n=126)

Performance gap

raw − expected · context confidence high

modest overperformer

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

Explain this score

Where did the 36 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 Diversity0 · p44

-10.0

Edge Activation33 · p89

-4.2

Connectivity39 · p32

-2.3

Enclosure / Eyes on Park64 · p53

+1.4

Natural Comfort56 · p69

+0.9

Border Vacuum Risk48 (risk)

+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

Trca Lands ( 85) works because its edge activation score (33) is in the top tier and its natural comfort (56) is also above-average.

What limits this park

Trca Lands ( 85) is held back by connectivity (39, below-average); border-vacuum risk is also elevated (48).

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high edge activation (33, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

Trca Lands ( 85) sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat — moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.

Performance in context

A modest overperformer for its waterfront park typology (+6 vs the median in medium Waterfront Park waterfront).

Typology classification

confidence 85%

Waterfront Parkalso reads as Ravine / Naturalized Park

Classified as Waterfront Park: 8% water surface inside park. Secondary read: Ravine / Naturalized Park (92% ravine overlap, 8% canopy).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%

33.3 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 26 active uses (restaurant, retail, transit_stop) and 6 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: OSM POIs (amenity/shop) + Toronto Building Footprints + land use

Connectivity

20% weightmeasured 85%

38.6 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 0 mapped paths/walkways and 5 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 6 street intersections within 100 m; 10 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~569 m of perimeter. low edge density — significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m2

Intersections within 100 m6

Paths/walkways (50 m)0

Sidewalk segments (50 m)5

Transit stops (400 m)10

Estimated entrances0

Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.35

Park perimeter569 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%

55.8 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 8.2% estimated tree canopy; 91.8% inside the ravine system; 8.2% water surface. Reading: ravine-cooled. Source coverage: treed_area, ravine, waterbodies. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage8.2%

Canopy area0.08 ha

Inside ravine system91.8%

Water surface inside park8.2%

Nearest water (if outside park)0 m (inside)

Estimated green91.8%

City-mapped trees inside polygon0

Tree density0.0 / ha

Cover diversity (Shannon, 0–100)48.4

Sample points used73

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%

63.6 / 100

32 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (4 mid-rise, 28 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 5.5 m (~2 floors); 5.6 buildings per 100 m of 569 m perimeter — strong frontage density; edges are barely there or single-storey; no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 4 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m32

Buildings within 50 m32

Avg edge height5.5 m (~2 floors)

Tallest edge building10.9 m

Mid-rise (3–7 floors)4

Low-rise (< 3 floors)28

Towers (≥ 13 floors)0

Frontage density5.62 per 100 m perimeter

Mid-rise share of edge13%

Tower share of edge0%

Blank-edge share (proxy)0%

Park perimeter569 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%

48.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, 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 (52)

parking lot17 m
retail — Cheque Cashing24 m
restaurant — Sabor del Pacifico24 m
restaurant — Lucky's Corner25 m
parking lot26 m
restaurant — Golden Star Restaurant27 m
retail — Freedom Mobile27 m
retail — St. Pio Bakery27 m
retail — Lien's Nails28 m
retail — Global Communications28 m
retail — Nail Lounge28 m
restaurant — Pho Tien Phat28 m
restaurant — Shawarma Istanbul28 m
retail — Pay2Day28 m
retail — IBC Variety28 m
retail — AA Hair Design28 m
retail — Frank's Barber Shop28 m
retail — Columbus Bakery28 m
retail — Wireless 2 Go28 m
retail — Eley's Beauty Salon29 m
parking lot29 m
retail — Afro-Caribbean Foods29 m
parking lot32 m
retail — Cash Money33 m
transit stop — Jane Street56 m
transit stop — Jane St at Wilson Ave69 m
parking lot70 m
transit stop — Jane St at Wilson Ave74 m
transit stop — Jane Street75 m
retail — Wilson Muffler87 m
retail — Esso90 m
highway — Highway 401 Collector92 m
parking lot101 m
highway — Highway 401 Collector109 m
highway — Highway 401 Express114 m
transit stop — Epic Lane Road118 m
parking lot122 m
highway — Highway 401 Express124 m
parking lot132 m
retail — Dollarama135 m
highway — Highway 401 Express139 m
transit stop — Epic Lane Road139 m
highway — Highway 401 Express142 m
highway — Highway 401 Collector146 m
parking lot152 m
highway — Highway 401 Collector160 m
parking lot168 m
parking lot174 m
retail — No Frills179 m
highway — Highway 401 Collector179 m
highway — Highway 401 Express180 m
retail — Fire & Flower Cannabis Co.195 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

Overall vitality
59th
Edge activation
89th
Connectivity
32th
Amenity diversity
44th
Natural comfort
69th
Enclosure
53th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

City Wide Open SpaceCorridor / Linear Park43
City Wide Open SpaceCorridor / Linear Park37
Downsview ParkRavine / Naturalized Park41
City Wide Open SpaceRavine / Naturalized Park40
West Highland Creek WatercourseWaterfront Park38

Most opposite parks

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

High ParkRavine / Naturalized Park47
Ramsden ParkRavine / Naturalized Park43
Withrow ParkNeighbourhood Park50
Earlscourt ParkNeighbourhood Park44
Kew GardensNeighbourhood Park71

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 Trca Lands ( 85)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.

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.