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Home Smith Park, site photograph
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Ravine / Naturalized Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)Lambton Baby Point (114)confidence moderate

Home Smith Park

Ravine / Naturalized Park, in the top tier overall (score 47, rank ~89th percentile). Strongest: connectivity; weakest: enclosure.

Photo by Kimberly Burke via Google Places · cached 5/9/2026

Home Smith Park scores 46.5 / 100. Strongest dimensions: natural comfort and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (5.5). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best forescape into natureshaded summer use

Area · 17.84 ha

What's here

Facilities
WashroomPicnic areaBBQBenches
Vitality Score
47/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence
46.5 / 100
Citywide
89th
of all 3,788 parks
Among Ravine / Naturalized Park
93rd
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
37
median in large Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine (n=127)
Performance gap
+10
raw − expected · context confidence high
modest overperformer

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

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Street context. Park polygon highlighted on the citywide map. Connectivity, transit, and edge conditions read at a glance.
Home Smith 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.

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 47 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 Activation6 · p65
-11.1
Connectivity68 · p88
+3.5
Amenity Diversity33 · p86
-3.3
Natural Comfort72 · p87
+3.2
Border Vacuum Risk24 (risk)
+2.6
Enclosure / Eyes on Park66 · p63
+1.6

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

Home Smith Park works because its connectivity score (68) is in the top tier and its natural comfort (72) is also top quartile (29 transit stops sit within a 400 m walk; 28 intersections fall within 100 m of the edge).

What limits this park

.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high connectivity (68, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

Home Smith 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 (66) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 6): frame without animation.

Performance in context

  • A modest overperformer for its ravine / naturalized park typology (+10 vs the median in large Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine).

Typology classification

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

Classified as Ravine / Naturalized Park: 100% ravine overlap, 34% canopy. Secondary read: Corridor / Linear Park (shape elongation 3.3× a circle of equal area).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
5.5 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 5 active uses (transit_stop, restaurant, retail) and 5 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%
67.5 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 10 mapped paths/walkways and 52 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 28 street intersections within 100 m; 29 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 2 estimated access points across ~4,969 m of perimeter. low edge density, significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m14
Intersections within 100 m28
Paths/walkways (50 m)10
Sidewalk segments (50 m)52
Transit stops (400 m)29
Estimated entrances2
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.28
Park perimeter4,969 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
33.4 / 100

4 distinct amenity types in the park (picnic, washroom, bbq, bench). 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%
71.5 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 33.7% estimated tree canopy; 100.0% inside the ravine system; 1.0% water surface; 21 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (1.2/ha). Reading: ravine-cooled. Source coverage: treed_area, ravine, waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage33.7%
Canopy area6.01 ha
Inside ravine system100.0%
Water surface inside park1.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)0 m (inside)
Estimated green99.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon21
Tree density1.2 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)55.0
Sample points used196

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
65.8 / 100

204 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (30 mid-rise, 173 low-rise, 1 tower); avg edge height 7.6 m (~3 floors); 4.1 buildings per 100 m of 4,969 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are low-rise (mostly 2 to 3 floors); 1 tower ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 30 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m204
Buildings within 50 m204
Avg edge height7.6 m (~3 floors)
Tallest edge building43.6 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)30
Low-rise (< 3 floors)173
Towers (≥ 13 floors)1
Frontage density4.11 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge15%
Tower share of edge1%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter4,969 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
24.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, parking_lot. 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: 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 (4 types · 21 records)

  • picnic
  • washroom
  • bbq
  • bench

Nearby active-edge features (41)

  • parking lot0 m
  • parking lot31 m
  • transit stop: Old Dundas Street43 m
  • transit stop: Old Dundas Street48 m
  • retail: Patricia's Cake Creations82 m
  • parking lot86 m
  • restaurant: Good Grains93 m
  • transit stop94 m
  • parking lot94 m
  • parking lot100 m
  • parking lot101 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West103 m
  • retail: Malta's Finest Pastries103 m
  • retail: Ready Set Fetch108 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West110 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West110 m
  • retail: Elford Floral Design113 m
  • restaurant: The Old Mill114 m
  • parking lot115 m
  • transit stop118 m
  • parking lot122 m
  • parking lot123 m
  • parking lot125 m
  • parking lot132 m
  • parking lot134 m
  • rail: Line 2 Bloor-Danforth139 m
  • parking lot143 m
  • rail: Line 2 Bloor-Danforth143 m
  • transit stop: Old Dundas St at Lundy Ave146 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West152 m
  • transit stop: Old Mill Station156 m
  • rail: Line 2 Bloor-Danforth160 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West163 m
  • transit stop163 m
  • rail: Line 2 Bloor-Danforth164 m
  • retail: Swirls168 m
  • transit stop170 m
  • transit stop: Old Mill Station171 m
  • retail: Gateway on the Go174 m
  • retail: Kingsway Persian Rugs180 m
  • transit stop: Old Mill Trail184 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureHome Smith 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
    89th
  • Edge activation
    65th
  • Connectivity
    88th
  • Amenity diversity
    86th
  • Natural comfort
    87th
  • Enclosure
    63th

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.

medium-confidence match

“Riverfront park with views of small animals & waterfowl, plus picnic areas & a paved trail.” (Google editorial summary)

Visitor signal score46 / 100
45.5 / 100

p57 citywide · p69 within Ravine / Naturalized Park

Volume (saturated)49
Density / ha21
Rating contribution93
Match dampener×0.85
Average rating
★ 4.7
out of 5
Ratings collected
475
total reviews
Photos uploaded
10
total contributors

Source: Google Places API · match medium (0.76 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 Home Smith 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.

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.

Data sources

real Toronto data
  • City of Toronto Open Data: Parks (Green Space)
    Polygon boundaries, official names, types. 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.
  • Neighbourhood Profiles
    (Pending) Equity context proxy.
  • OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)
    Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.