Tower-Community Green Spacecluster ·Active-edged · exposed parksNewtonbrook East (50)confidence moderatereal Toronto data

Finch Parkette

Tower-Community Green Space, above average overall (score 41, rank ~80th percentile). Strongest: edge activation; weakest: natural comfort.

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

Finch Parkette scores 41.1 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and edge activation. Weakest: amenity diversity (0). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors — not a definitive judgment.

Best for:nearby residentstower-block recreation

Area · 0.06 ha

Vitality Score

41/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 56%

Data Confidence

41.1 / 100

Citywide

80th

of all 3,273 parks

Among Tower-Community Green Space

88th

same primary typology

Expected for similar parks

median in pocket Tower-Community Green Space (n=17)

Performance gap

raw − expected · context confidence medium

modest overperformer

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

Explain this score

Where did the 41 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 · p48

-10.0

Border Vacuum Risk0 (risk)

+5.0

Natural Comfort24 · p4

-3.9

Connectivity39 · p33

-2.2

Edge Activation55 · p97

+1.2

Enclosure / Eyes on Park60 · p37

+1.0

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

Finch Parkette works because its edge activation score (55) is one of the city's strongest (its perimeter is lined with active uses).

What limits this park

Finch Parkette is held back by natural comfort (24, bottom quartile)— only 0% canopy means little summer shade.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high edge activation (55, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Finch Parkette sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat — moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.

Tradeoffs

14 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy — passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.

Performance in context

A modest overperformer for its tower-community green space typology (+9 vs the median in pocket Tower-Community Green Space).

Typology classification

confidence 75%

Tower-Community Green Spacealso reads as Civic Square

Classified as Tower-Community Green Space: 14 towers vs 3 mid-rise within 25 m on a 0.1 ha park. Secondary read: Civic Square (tower-walled, low canopy (0%), tight frontage — reads as a civic square).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%

54.6 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 22 active uses (retail, transit_stop, restaurant, cafe, school) and 3 dead/hostile uses (parking_lot, highway). 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%

38.9 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 0 mapped paths/walkways and 2 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 3 street intersections within 100 m; 57 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~123 m of perimeter. moderate edge density — small superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m1

Intersections within 100 m3

Paths/walkways (50 m)0

Sidewalk segments (50 m)2

Transit stops (400 m)57

Estimated entrances0

Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.81

Park perimeter123 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% weightinferred 24%

24.1 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 0.0% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~808 m. Reading: exposed. Source coverage: waterbodies. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage0.0%

Canopy area0.00 ha

Inside ravine system0.0%

Water surface inside park0.0%

Nearest water (if outside park)808 m

Estimated green100.0%

City-mapped trees inside polygon0

Tree density0.0 / ha

Cover diversity (Shannon, 0–100)0.0

Sample points used12

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%

60.4 / 100

22 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (3 mid-rise, 5 low-rise, 14 tower); avg edge height 40.5 m (~14 floors); 17.9 buildings per 100 m of 123 m perimeter — strong frontage density; edges dominated by towers; 14 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 3 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m22

Buildings within 50 m22

Avg edge height40.5 m (~14 floors)

Tallest edge building76.3 m

Mid-rise (3–7 floors)3

Low-rise (< 3 floors)5

Towers (≥ 13 floors)14

Frontage density17.86 per 100 m perimeter

Mid-rise share of edge14%

Tower share of edge64%

Blank-edge share (proxy)0%

Park perimeter123 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%

0.0 risk

Park edges face the city — no significant border vacuum detected.

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 (80)

transit stop9 m
transit stop — Finch Station12 m
transit stop — Finch Station13 m
transit stop — Finch Station34 m
transit stop — Finch Station54 m
parking lot56 m
transit stop — Finch Avenue at Yonge Street East Side58 m
retail — Pick Vapes63 m
retail — Yonge Hair Salon79 m
retail — Secret Garden79 m
retail — Morning Glory79 m
transit stop — Pemberton Av Entrance80 m
school — FutureSkills High School81 m
restaurant — Tehranto Persian Cuisine83 m
retail — J's Cleaners84 m
retail — Paran Toues87 m
transit stop — Yonge Street @ Finch Avenue90 m
retail — Gateway Newsstands91 m
transit stop — Yonge / Finch Northwest Entrance92 m
retail — J's Variety92 m
cafe — Tim Hortons93 m
highway — Yonge Street96 m
retail — Kamiya97 m
transit stop — Yonge St Entrance99 m
parking lot100 m
restaurant — Pizza Nova102 m
transit stop — Finch Station105 m
transit stop — Yonge Street at Finch Avenue109 m
rail110 m
rail110 m
retail — Hakim Optical111 m
highway — Yonge Street111 m
transit stop — Kenneth Avenue113 m
retail — Hear Canada114 m
highway — Yonge Street114 m
retail — Kims Optical117 m
transit stop — Yonge / Finch Northwest Entrance119 m
transit stop — Yonge Street at Finch Avenue121 m
highway — Yonge Street121 m
restaurant122 m
parking lot122 m
retail — B&B Beauty124 m
highway — Yonge Street129 m
transit stop — Finch Station129 m
parking lot130 m
transit stop — North American Centre Entrance130 m
restaurant — Zui Beer Bar131 m
transit stop — Yonge Street @ Finch Avenue132 m
highway — Yonge Street135 m
parking lot135 m
restaurant — Burrito Place136 m
cafe — Tim Hortons137 m
cafe — Cafe N One141 m
retail — print three144 m
transit stop — Kenneth Avenue144 m
restaurant — SSAM Toronto Korean BBQ & Grill145 m
transit stop — Finch145 m
retail — Tianbao Travel145 m
cafe — Tim Hortons145 m
parking lot — Toronto Parking Authority147 m
restaurant — Nak Won Korean Restaurant148 m
parking lot149 m
restaurant — Booster Juice150 m
restaurant — Dear Saigon151 m
transit stop — Finch151 m
retail — J Gift152 m
highway — Yonge Street154 m
restaurant — Shout Karaoke154 m
restaurant — Twister Karaoke155 m
retail — Y&F Shoe Repair157 m
restaurant — Cafe Princess161 m
retail — J Mart162 m
transit stop — Finch Avenue at Yonge Street West Side163 m
highway — Yonge Street166 m
highway — Yonge Street166 m
cafe — Starbucks168 m
restaurant — Pojangmacha Food Cart168 m
cafe — Timothy's168 m
restaurant — Piazza Manna170 m
parking lot172 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

Overall vitality
80th
Edge activation
97th
Connectivity
33th
Amenity diversity
48th
Natural comfort
4th
Enclosure
37th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

Sultan Pool Dr WalkwayParkette43
City Wide Open SpaceCivic Square37
Scarborough Hydro Green SpaceNeighbourhood Park40
Etobicoke Hydro Green SpaceCorridor / Linear Park42
City Wide Open SpaceCivic Square39

Most opposite parks

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

High ParkRavine / Naturalized Park47
Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park28
Earlscourt ParkNeighbourhood Park44
Toronto Islands - Muggs Island ParkRavine / Naturalized Park25

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 Finch Parkettematters. 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.

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.
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.