Skip to content
Toronto Parks Atlas
Glen Long Park — site photograph
Back to map
Neighbourhood Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)Yorkdale-Glen Park (31)confidence moderatereal Toronto data

Glen Long Park

Neighbourhood Park, middle of the pack overall (score 35, rank ~54th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: edge activation.

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

Glen Long Park scores 34.9 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is elevated (60). This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors — not a definitive judgment.

Best for:daily urban life

Area · 2.21 ha

Vitality Score
35/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 70%

Data Confidence
34.9 / 100
Citywide
54th
of all 3,273 parks
Among Neighbourhood Park
39th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
37
median in medium Neighbourhood Park (n=363)
Performance gap
-3
raw − expected · context confidence high
typical

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

Explain this score

Where did the 35 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 · p32
-12.5
Amenity Diversity21 · p88
-5.8
Connectivity62 · p77
+2.4
Enclosure / Eyes on Park68 · p64
+1.8
Border Vacuum Risk60 (risk)
-1.0
Natural Comfort50 · p61
+0.0

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

Glen Long Park works because its amenity diversity score (21) is in the top tier and its connectivity (62) is also top quartile.

What limits this park

Glen Long Park is held back by edge activation (0, below-average)— the surrounding streets carry too few active uses to spill into the park; border-vacuum risk is also elevated (60).

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (21, top quartile).

Jacobs reading

Glen Long 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 (68) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0) — frame without animation.
  • High connectivity coexists with high border-vacuum risk (60) — much of that connectivity is to highways, rail, or parking lots, not to neighbourhoods.

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Neighbourhood Park

Classified as Neighbourhood Park: 2.2 ha, framed by 5 mid-rise vs 0 towers

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 22 active uses (restaurant, transit_stop, community, retail, cafe) 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

20% weightmeasured 85%
62.1 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 11 mapped paths/walkways and 7 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 8 street intersections within 100 m; 19 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 4 estimated access points across ~845 m of perimeter. moderate edge density — small superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m7
Intersections within 100 m8
Paths/walkways (50 m)11
Sidewalk segments (50 m)7
Transit stops (400 m)19
Estimated entrances4
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.83
Park perimeter845 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%
21.0 / 100

2 distinct amenity types in the park (playground, washroom). 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% weightpartial 60%
50.1 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: ~19.3% effective canopy (1.3% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); 61 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (27.6/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: treed_area, street_trees. Impervious surface is approximated (Toronto's authoritative layer ships only as a raster GeoTIFF).

Canopy coverage1.3%
Canopy area0.03 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)1,500 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon61
Tree density27.6 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0–100)10.0
Sample points used154

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
67.5 / 100

115 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (5 mid-rise, 110 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 5.5 m (~2 floors); 13.6 buildings per 100 m of 845 m perimeter — strong frontage density; edges are barely there or single-storey; no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 5 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m115
Buildings within 50 m115
Avg edge height5.5 m (~2 floors)
Tallest edge building14.6 m
Mid-rise (3–7 floors)5
Low-rise (< 3 floors)110
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density13.62 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge4%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter845 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
60.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, 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 (2 types · 2 records)

  • playground
  • washroom

Nearby active-edge features (68)

  • community — Glen Long Community Centre0 m
  • parking lot0 m
  • parking lot0 m
  • parking lot11 m
  • retail — YB Normal Tattoo17 m
  • retail — Lucio's Hair Fashion18 m
  • retail — Absolute Electronic Service21 m
  • parking lot23 m
  • retail — Wholesale Prices Cleaners24 m
  • parking lot37 m
  • restaurant — Mr. Sub42 m
  • transit stop — Dufferin St at Glengrove Ave68 m
  • retail — Terra Nova Bakery and Pastry69 m
  • retail — Astro Variety & Gift75 m
  • transit stop — Dufferin St at Glengrove Ave75 m
  • restaurant — Tostadas Grill81 m
  • retail — Bolonga Pastificio82 m
  • parking lot84 m
  • retail — Glen Park Cleaners86 m
  • parking lot86 m
  • restaurant — Camarra87 m
  • parking lot87 m
  • retail — Amico Bakery90 m
  • parking lot91 m
  • parking lot93 m
  • restaurant — Sheba Lounge94 m
  • parking lot94 m
  • retail — Lavish Bath Company95 m
  • retail — Igo Optical95 m
  • retail — Nina Nails Supply96 m
  • retail — The Hair Spot97 m
  • cafe — Caffe Sportivo98 m
  • retail — Dufferin Meat Market98 m
  • parking lot101 m
  • retail — City Fish Market102 m
  • retail — Columbus Bakery104 m
  • retail — Royal Importing107 m
  • retail — Ave 22 Off The Rack111 m
  • retail — Quality Picture Frame114 m
  • retail — Benjamin Moore117 m
  • retail — Sa Vie Hair Studio123 m
  • parking lot124 m
  • retail — Ready Go126 m
  • parking lot127 m
  • retail — Market Balkan128 m
  • parking lot137 m
  • parking lot137 m
  • retail — The Meat Store138 m
  • transit stop — 40 Playfair Ave (Villa Colombo)138 m
  • parking lot141 m
  • transit stop — Glencairn Avenue143 m
  • transit stop — Glencairn Ave at Ennerdale St144 m
  • parking lot145 m
  • parking lot146 m
  • parking lot147 m
  • cafe — Tony's Espresso Bar153 m
  • transit stop — Wenderly Drive156 m
  • transit stop — Glencairn Ave at Ennerdale St161 m
  • retail — Neighbours Coffee167 m
  • transit stop — Glencairn Ave at Dufferin St178 m
  • parking lot181 m
  • parking lot181 m
  • retail — The Fireplace Company184 m
  • parking lot187 m
  • transit stop — Glencairn Ave at Dufferin St189 m
  • transit stop — Playfair Avenue189 m
  • parking lot198 m
  • restaurant — Darosa200 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureGlen Long Park

Citywide percentile ranks

Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.

  • Overall vitality
    54th
  • Edge activation
    32th
  • Connectivity
    77th
  • Amenity diversity
    88th
  • Natural comfort
    61th
  • Enclosure
    64th

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.

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 Glen Long 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

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.