Urban Plazacluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (enclosure-leaning)Humewood-Cedarvale (106)confidence moderatereal Toronto data

Ben Nobleman Park

Urban Plaza, middle of the pack overall (score 32, rank ~42th percentile). Strongest: connectivity; weakest: edge activation.

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

Ben Nobleman Park scores 32.4 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. 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 for:daily passing-throughpocket meetings

Area · 0.57 ha

Vitality Score

32/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence

32.4 / 100

Citywide

42nd

of all 3,273 parks

Among Urban Plaza

26th

same primary typology

Expected for similar parks

median in small Urban Plaza (n=100)

Performance gap

-7

raw − expected · context confidence high

modest underperformer

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

Explain this score

Where did the 32 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 · p59

-12.5

Amenity Diversity12 · p83

-7.6

Border Vacuum Risk100 (risk)

-5.0

Connectivity71 · p92

+4.2

Enclosure / Eyes on Park77 · p80

+2.7

Natural Comfort54 · p67

+0.6

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

Ben Nobleman Park works because its connectivity score (71) is in the top tier and its amenity diversity (12) is also top quartile (23 transit stops sit within a 400 m walk; 11 intersections fall within 100 m of the edge).

What limits this park

Ben Nobleman Park's edges are fronted by border-vacuum land uses (highways, rail, parking, blank institutional) — risk score 100.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high connectivity (71, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Ben Nobleman 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 (77) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0) — frame without animation.
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 -7; cohort: small Urban Plaza).

Typology classification

confidence 70%

Urban Plaza

Classified as Urban Plaza: 5702 m², paved (15% canopy), 26.9 buildings/100 m

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%

0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 8 active uses (transit_stop) and 19 dead/hostile uses (highway, parking_lot, rail). 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%

71.0 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 3 mapped paths/walkways and 18 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 11 street intersections within 100 m; 23 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 5 estimated access points across ~305 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy — no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m10

Intersections within 100 m11

Paths/walkways (50 m)3

Sidewalk segments (50 m)18

Transit stops (400 m)23

Estimated entrances5

Edge connections / 100 m perimeter3.28

Park perimeter305 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%

11.9 / 100

1 distinct amenity types in the park (playground). 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%

53.8 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 15.0% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~964 m; 18 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (18.0/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: treed_area, waterbodies, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage15.0%

Canopy area0.09 ha

Inside ravine system0.0%

Water surface inside park0.0%

Nearest water (if outside park)964 m

Estimated green100.0%

City-mapped trees inside polygon18

Tree density18.0 / ha

Cover diversity (Shannon, 0–100)61.0

Sample points used40

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%

77.3 / 100

82 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (7 mid-rise, 75 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 6.1 m (~2 floors); 26.9 buildings per 100 m of 305 m perimeter — strong frontage density; edges are low-rise (mostly 2–3 floors); no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 7 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m82

Buildings within 50 m82

Avg edge height6.1 m (~2 floors)

Tallest edge building11.8 m

Mid-rise (3–7 floors)7

Low-rise (< 3 floors)75

Towers (≥ 13 floors)0

Frontage density26.87 per 100 m perimeter

Mid-rise share of edge9%

Tower share of edge0%

Blank-edge share (proxy)0%

Park perimeter305 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%

100.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West, Eglinton Avenue West. 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 (1 types · 1 records)

playground

Nearby active-edge features (52)

highway — Eglinton Avenue West10 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West14 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West14 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West14 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West14 m
transit stop — Cedarvale16 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West17 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West22 m
transit stop — Cedarvale Entrance25 m
transit stop — Cedarvale25 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West26 m
transit stop — Everden Road - Cedarvale Station28 m
transit stop43 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West43 m
transit stop — Cedarvale Entrance45 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West47 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West54 m
rail — Line 5 Eglinton56 m
highway — Allen Road57 m
rail — Line 5 Eglinton57 m
parking lot57 m
highway — Allen Road57 m
parking lot64 m
transit stop — Everden Road - Cedarvale Station74 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West81 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West86 m
transit stop — Cedarvale Station93 m
transit stop101 m
retail — Cut Masters Barbershop104 m
transit stop108 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West109 m
retail — Forest Hill Institute of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery113 m
transit stop — Cedarvale Station113 m
transit stop — Cedarvale Station115 m
highway — Allen Road116 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West116 m
transit stop — Cedarvale Station118 m
retail — Amorphous Salon125 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West126 m
retail — 1182 Beauty129 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West150 m
retail — GoLaser156 m
parking lot160 m
retail — Elle Made Well162 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West162 m
transit stop — Cedarvale162 m
transit stop — Cedarvale162 m
rail — Line 1 Yonge-University163 m
rail — Line 1 Yonge-University163 m
retail — Benjamin Moore167 m
transit stop — Glenarden Road198 m
highway — Eglinton Avenue West199 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

Overall vitality
42th
Edge activation
59th
Connectivity
92th
Amenity diversity
83th
Natural comfort
67th
Enclosure
80th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

Dempsey ParkNeighbourhood Park43
Lindylou ParkRavine / Naturalized Park39
Haverson ParkUrban Plaza40
Zooview ParkUrban Plaza40
Dan Iannuzzi ParkWaterfront Park39

Most opposite parks

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

Simcoe ParkTower-Community Green Space51
Queen'S Quay Traffic IslandWaterfront Park49
Toronto Islands - Muggs Island ParkRavine / Naturalized Park25
Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
Joseph Burr Tyrrell ParkUrban Plaza50

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 Ben Nobleman 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.

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.
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.