Athletic / Recreation Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)Englemount-Lawrence (32)confidence moderate

Baycrest Park

Athletic / Recreation Park, middle of the pack overall (score 33, rank ~45th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: natural comfort.

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

Baycrest Park scores 33.3 / 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 fororganised sportactive recreation

Area · 9.38 ha

What's here

Recreation

PlaygroundSports fieldTennisIce rink

Facilities

Community centre

Vitality Score

33/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 66%

Data Confidence

33.3 / 100

Citywide

45th

of all 3,788 parks

Among Athletic / Recreation Park

36th

same primary typology

Expected for similar parks

median in large Athletic / Recreation Park (n=27)

Performance gap

raw − expected · context confidence medium

typical

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

Loading map…

Street context. Park polygon highlighted on the citywide map.

Boundary: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Explain this score

Where did the 33 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 · p28

-12.5

Border Vacuum Risk100 (risk)

-5.0

Connectivity68 · p88

+3.5

Natural Comfort33 · p17

-2.6

Amenity Diversity40 · p92

-2.0

Enclosure / Eyes on Park69 · p69

+1.9

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

Baycrest Park works because its amenity diversity score (40) is in the top tier and its connectivity (68) is also top quartile.

What limits this park

Baycrest Park is held back by natural comfort (33, bottom quartile): only 0% canopy means little summer shade; border-vacuum risk is also elevated (100).

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high amenity diversity (40, top decile).

Jacobs reading

Baycrest Park sits between an urban social park and an ecological retreat: moderately useful for both, exceptionally suited to neither.

Tradeoffs

Connectivity (68) significantly outpaces natural comfort (33): well placed in the city but offers little shade or ecological respite.
The park is enclosed by buildings (69) 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.

Typology classification

confidence 75%

Athletic / Recreation Parkalso reads as Neighbourhood Park

Classified as Athletic / Recreation Park: 60% of amenity types are athletic (sports_field, tennis, ice_rink). Secondary read: Neighbourhood Park (9.4 ha, framed by 7 mid-rise vs 4 towers).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%

0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 14 active uses (transit_stop, retail) and 22 dead/hostile uses (highway, rail, 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%

67.6 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 3 mapped paths/walkways and 50 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 9 street intersections within 100 m; 46 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 7 estimated access points across ~2,144 m of perimeter. low edge density, significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m8

Intersections within 100 m9

Paths/walkways (50 m)3

Sidewalk segments (50 m)50

Transit stops (400 m)46

Estimated entrances7

Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.37

Park perimeter2,144 m

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

Amenity Diversity

20% weightmeasured 75%

39.8 / 100

5 distinct amenity types in the park (community_centre, playground, sports_field, tennis, ice_rink). 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% weightinferred 30%

32.6 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: ~1.7% effective canopy (0.0% from contiguous tree polygons + scattered tree density); 23 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (2.5/ha). Reading: exposed. Source coverage: street_trees. 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)1,500 m

Estimated green100.0%

City-mapped trees inside polygon23

Tree density2.5 / ha

Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)0.0

Sample points used118

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%

69.1 / 100

65 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (7 mid-rise, 54 low-rise, 4 tower); avg edge height 9.4 m (~3 floors); 3.0 buildings per 100 m of 2,144 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are at a Jacobs-scale walkable mid-rise (3 to 7 floors); 4 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 7 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m65

Buildings within 50 m65

Avg edge height9.4 m (~3 floors)

Tallest edge building41.8 m

Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)7

Low-rise (< 3 floors)54

Towers (≥ 13 floors)4

Frontage density3.03 per 100 m perimeter

Mid-rise share of edge11%

Tower share of edge6%

Blank-edge share (proxy)0%

Park perimeter2,144 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: Line 1 Yonge-University, Line 1 Yonge-University, Allen Road, Allen Road, Line 1 Yonge-University, parking_lot, parking_lot, parking_lot, Allen Road. 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 (5 types · 10 records)

community centre
playground
sports field
tennis
ice rink

Nearby active-edge features (72)

parking lot0 m
transit stop: Ranee Avenue at Varna Dr2 m
transit stop: Ranee Avenue at Varna Dr21 m
highway: Allen Road22 m
transit stop: 50 Ameer Avenue (Sir Sandford Fleming Academy)25 m
highway: Allen Road27 m
transit stop: Opposite 50 Ameer Avenue (Sir Sandford Fleming Academy)29 m
parking lot30 m
transit stop: 150 Neptune Drive33 m
retail: Zippy Market34 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University35 m
parking lot36 m
transit stop37 m
transit stop: Yorkdale39 m
transit stop: Ranee Avenue South40 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University42 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University44 m
highway: Allen Road46 m
transit stop: Ranee Avenue North47 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University53 m
highway: Allen Road53 m
parking lot59 m
transit stop: Yorkdale62 m
parking lot63 m
highway: Allen Road65 m
highway: Allen Road66 m
transit stop: Varna Dr at Ranee Ave67 m
transit stop: Opposite 130 Neptune Drive71 m
highway: Allen Road73 m
transit stop: Yorkdale Mall76 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University79 m
parking lot86 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University89 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University89 m
highway: Allen Road97 m
rail: Line 1 Yonge-University100 m
parking lot102 m
highway: Allen Road105 m
transit stop: Wagman Centre106 m
transit stop: Ranee Avenue at Flemington Rd109 m
highway: Allen Road114 m
parking lot114 m
community: North York Community House122 m
parking lot138 m
transit stop139 m
transit stop: Ameer Ave at Baycrest Ave140 m
retail: MobileCare142 m
transit stop142 m
transit stop143 m
parking lot145 m
transit stop147 m
transit stop150 m
transit stop152 m
transit stop: Flemington Rd at Ranee Avenue157 m
transit stop: Yorkdale Road at GO Terminal159 m
transit stop161 m
cafe: Chatime162 m
transit stop: Ameer Ave at Baycrest Ave165 m
parking lot170 m
retail171 m
transit stop173 m
parking lot174 m
transit stop: Flemington Rd at Ranee Avenue179 m
transit stop: Ranee Ave at Mikado Ave183 m
transit stop183 m
transit stop184 m
cafe: Tim Hortons184 m
transit stop185 m
transit stop: Ranee Ave at Mikado Ave185 m
transit stop188 m
highway: Highway 401 Express194 m
retail: Stitch It197 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

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
45th
Edge activation
28th
Connectivity
88th
Amenity diversity
92th
Natural comfort
17th
Enclosure
69th

Most similar parks

Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.

Fundy Bay ParkNeighbourhood Park41
Flemington ParkCorridor / Linear Park35
Cosburn ParkNeighbourhood Park39
Ridge ParkParkette38
Millwood ParkNeighbourhood Park41

Most opposite parks

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

Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
Mclevin Woods ParkRavine / Naturalized Park49
Toronto Islands - Muggs Island ParkRavine / Naturalized Park25
Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park28
Arnell PlazaCivic Square50

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 Baycrest 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.
Increase canopy and reduce paved area. Shade and water features extend usable hours and seasons.
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

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.