Etobicoke Hydro Green Space
Parkette, middle of the pack overall (score 30, rank ~31th percentile). Strongest: connectivity; weakest: edge activation.
Aerial — City of Toronto orthophoto, ~8 cm/px source · cached 5/9/2026
Etobicoke Hydro Green Space scores 30.1 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. 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.
Area · 0.52 ha
Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 63%
Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.
Explain this score
Where did the 30 come from? Each weighted contribution against a neutral 50 baseline. Green = pushed up; red = pulled down.
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
What limits this park
Most distinctive characteristic
Jacobs reading
Performance in context
- Reads as a modest underperformer relative to comparable parks (gap -6; cohort: small Parkette).
Typology classification
Classified as Parkette: small (5245 m²) with strong building frontage (9.2 per 100 m)
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 18 active uses (transit_stop, cafe, restaurant, retail) and 11 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
Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 0 mapped paths/walkways and 14 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 3 street intersections within 100 m; 50 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 0 estimated access points across ~424 m of perimeter. moderate edge density — small superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.
Source: Toronto Centreline V2 + Pedestrian Network + OSM transit stops
Amenity Diversity
No amenities recorded — score is 0 until inventory is loaded.
Source: Toronto Parks & Recreation Facilities + OSM amenity tags
Natural Comfort
Natural-comfort components for this park: 5.4% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~855 m. Reading: exposed. Source coverage: treed_area, waterbodies. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).
Source: Toronto Treed Area + Ravine + Waterbodies + Street Tree Inventory
Enclosure / Eyes on Park
39 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (0 mid-rise, 39 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 4.4 m (~1 floors); 9.2 buildings per 100 m of 424 m perimeter — strong frontage density; edges are barely there or single-storey; no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 0 mid-rise edge buildings.
Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)
Border Vacuum 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" — they suppress foot traffic and isolate the park from its neighbourhood.
Source: Toronto Street Centreline (highways) + rail layer + OSM landuse + building footprints
Equity Context
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)
- parking lot8 m
- parking lot13 m
- transit stop — Aukland Road South of Bloor Street19 m
- transit stop — Auckland Road at Bloor Street20 m
- retail — Reid's Custom Upholstery39 m
- parking lot52 m
- parking lot61 m
- transit stop — Aukland Road North Of Dundas Street61 m
- retail — First Choice Hair63 m
- parking lot66 m
- parking lot70 m
- retail — Psychic Reader75 m
- parking lot76 m
- parking lot77 m
- retail — Stari Grad Food Boutique78 m
- retail — Chatr82 m
- parking lot83 m
- parking lot85 m
- retail — Ace Barber Shop87 m
- retail — Pet Valu87 m
- transit stop88 m
- transit stop — Auckland Road at Dundas Street89 m
- parking lot89 m
- transit stop90 m
- restaurant — Haroo Korean Restaurant91 m
- transit stop — Aukland Road91 m
- cafe — Tim Hortons92 m
- retail — Bloomie Nails & Spa96 m
- restaurant — Wendy's100 m
- highway — Dundas Street West101 m
- highway — Dundas Street West108 m
- highway — Dundas Street West109 m
- highway — Dundas Street West111 m
- parking lot111 m
- retail — Duke's Source for Sports112 m
- parking lot113 m
- highway — Dundas Street West113 m
- highway — Dundas Street West117 m
- retail — Vatra Cheese & Deli120 m
- parking lot123 m
- retail — Nu’s Hair Studio124 m
- retail — Elegant Nails & Spa124 m
- highway — Dundas Street West125 m
- cafe — Starbucks126 m
- retail — Wellwise126 m
- restaurant — Pho House126 m
- restaurant — Donatelli’s Pizzeria126 m
- retail — Wine Rack126 m
- retail — Inca Cannabis127 m
- transit stop — Aukland Road128 m
- transit stop — Bloor Street at Acorn Drive128 m
- restaurant — Greek Freak128 m
- transit stop — Dundas Street West Of Aukland Road131 m
- retail — Farm Boy132 m
- highway — Dundas Street West133 m
- retail — The Steak Master133 m
- retail — Dairy Jug Convenience Store138 m
- transit stop — Bloor Street at Ashbourne Drive140 m
- retail — Tatarama142 m
- restaurant — Milano's Pizza143 m
- restaurant — Kanu Bar & Grill146 m
- retail — Ashbourne Corner Flowers & Gifts147 m
- highway — Dundas Street West150 m
- transit stop152 m
- parking lot154 m
- parking lot155 m
- highway — Dundas Street West156 m
- highway — Dundas Street West158 m
- transit stop — Dundas Street at Acorn Avenue166 m
- highway — Dundas Street West166 m
- cafe — imPerfect Fresh Café178 m
- parking lot179 m
- highway — Dundas Street West180 m
- highway — Dundas Street West183 m
- retail — Maple Convenience184 m
- highway — Dundas Street West185 m
- retail — Vincent's Hair Salon187 m
- parking lot189 m
- retail — Raw Beauty Bar189 m
- parking lot193 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality31th
- Edge activation18th
- Connectivity58th
- Amenity diversity27th
- Natural comfort42th
- Enclosure26th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- City Wide Open SpaceNeighbourhood Park32
- City Wide Open SpaceCorridor / Linear Park22
- Scarborough Hydro Green SpaceNeighbourhood Park33
- East Don ParklandRavine / Naturalized Park33
- Staines Road Retention PondWaterfront Park29
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space — useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Kew GardensNeighbourhood Park71
- Leslie Grove ParkParkette68
- Market Lane ParkUrban Plaza63
- Bellevue Square ParkCivic Square66
- ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green SpaceUrban Plaza59
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 Etobicoke Hydro Green Spacematters. 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 FacilitiesInventory of in-park amenities (washrooms, fields, rinks…).
- Toronto Pedestrian NetworkSidewalk segments around and through parks; estimated park entrances.
- Toronto Centreline V2Street segments + intersection nodes near park edges; trails and walkways.
- Toronto 3D MassingBuilding footprints + heights for edge-building counts, frontage density, and tower-in-the-park risk.
- Toronto Treed AreaTree canopy share inside park polygons via stratified-grid sampling.
- Toronto Waterbodies & RiversWater surface inside parks + nearest-water distance for cooling.
- Ravine & Natural Feature ProtectionRavine overlap as a cooling / natural-comfort signal.
- Toronto Street Tree InventoryTree count + density inside park polygons.
- Neighbourhood Profiles(Pending) Equity context proxy.
- OpenStreetMap (Overpass API)Cafés, restaurants, retail, transit stops, parking, highways, rail.