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Toronto Parks Atlas
Valleyfield Park, site photograph
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Waterfront Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (enclosure-leaning)Willowridge-Martingrove-Richview (7)confidence moderate

Valleyfield Park

Waterfront Park, one of the city's strongest overall (score 56, rank ~99th percentile). Strongest: edge activation; weakest: enclosure.

Photo by Hoang Ha via Google Places · cached 5/9/2026

Valleyfield Park scores 56 / 100. Strongest dimensions: connectivity and edge activation. Weakest: amenity diversity (11.9). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best forwaterfront recreationlong walks

Area · 2.49 ha

Vitality Score
56/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence
56.0 / 100
Citywide
99th
of all 3,273 parks
Among Waterfront Park
99th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
30
median in medium Waterfront Park waterfront (n=126)
Performance gap
+26
raw − expected · context confidence high
strong 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.
Valleyfield 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.

Explain this score

Where did the 56 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
Amenity Diversity12 · p76
-7.6
Connectivity72 · p93
+4.4
Border Vacuum Risk12 (risk)
+3.8
Edge Activation62 · p98
+2.9
Natural Comfort60 · p74
+1.4
Enclosure / Eyes on Park60 · p34
+1.0

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

Valleyfield Park works because its edge activation score (62) is one of the city's strongest and its connectivity (72) is also top decile (its perimeter is lined with active uses).

What limits this park

Valleyfield Park is held back by enclosure (60, below-average): no mid-rise frontage to provide eyes on the park.

Most distinctive characteristic

Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high edge activation (62, top decile).

Jacobs reading

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

Performance in context

  • This park is a strong overperformer for its cohort: raw 56 versus an expected 30 for similar parks (medium Waterfront Park waterfront) (gap +26).

Typology classification

confidence 85%
Waterfront Parkalso reads as Ravine / Naturalized Park

Classified as Waterfront Park: 5% water surface inside park. Secondary read: Ravine / Naturalized Park (87% ravine overlap, 13% canopy).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
61.8 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 21 active uses (transit_stop, restaurant, retail, cafe) and 2 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%
72.0 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 2 mapped paths/walkways and 32 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 16 street intersections within 100 m; 21 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 5 estimated access points across ~871 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m14
Intersections within 100 m16
Paths/walkways (50 m)2
Sidewalk segments (50 m)32
Transit stops (400 m)21
Estimated entrances5
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter1.61
Park perimeter871 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 (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% weightmeasured 75%
59.6 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 12.9% estimated tree canopy; 87.1% inside the ravine system; 5.2% water surface; 7 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (2.8/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 coverage12.9%
Canopy area0.32 ha
Inside ravine system87.1%
Water surface inside park5.2%
Nearest water (if outside park)0 m (inside)
Estimated green94.8%
City-mapped trees inside polygon7
Tree density2.8 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)51.1
Sample points used155

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
59.9 / 100

84 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (0 mid-rise, 84 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 5.3 m (~2 floors); 9.6 buildings per 100 m of 871 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.

Buildings within 25 m84
Buildings within 50 m84
Avg edge height5.3 m (~2 floors)
Tallest edge building7.7 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)0
Low-rise (< 3 floors)84
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density9.64 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge0%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter871 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
12.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: 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 (1 types · 1 records)

  • washroom

Nearby active-edge features (37)

  • transit stop: Braecrest Avenue at The Westway0 m
  • parking lot0 m
  • transit stop: The Westway at Trio Ave East Side5 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Road at Yorkleigh Ave8 m
  • transit stop: The Westway at Trio Ave22 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Road at Yorkleigh Ave26 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Rd at The Westway South Side40 m
  • transit stop: The Westway at Royal York Rd41 m
  • cafe: Starbucks55 m
  • retail: Sherwin-Williams62 m
  • parking lot69 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Rd at Lawrence Ave West73 m
  • retail: Device Dilemma73 m
  • restaurant: Pizza Nova77 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Rd at The Westway77 m
  • restaurant: Pizza Hut Delivery79 m
  • restaurant: Lan Sushi81 m
  • restaurant: Krispy Bites85 m
  • retail: The Dog Wash92 m
  • transit stop: Lawrence Ave West at Royal York Rd East Side95 m
  • retail: The Potty Planter Florist95 m
  • transit stop: Lawrence Ave West at Royal York Rd98 m
  • restaurant: Mayflower Chinese Food98 m
  • parking lot112 m
  • parking lot137 m
  • retail: Benjamin Moore141 m
  • retail: DD Maxx143 m
  • retail: Telus153 m
  • restaurant: Robot Boil House160 m
  • retail: Anna's Nail Boutique & Spa170 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Road at Weston Wood Rd171 m
  • retail: Eyekonic Eyewear174 m
  • retail: Amalfi Bread & Pastry177 m
  • transit stop: Royal York Road at Weston Wood Rd178 m
  • retail: Noi Folino Hair Salon179 m
  • retail: Dollarama190 m
  • retail: Lana Shoes197 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureValleyfield 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
    99th
  • Edge activation
    98th
  • Connectivity
    93th
  • Amenity diversity
    76th
  • Natural comfort
    74th
  • Enclosure
    34th

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.

Visitor signal score38 / 100
37.6 / 100

p35 citywide · p32 within Waterfront Park

Volume (saturated)14
Density / ha24
Rating contribution83
Match dampener×1.00
Average rating
★ 4.3
out of 5
Ratings collected
80
total reviews
Photos uploaded
10
total contributors

Source: Google Places API · match unverified (0.00 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 Valleyfield 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.

  • 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.
  • 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.