ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green Space
Urban Plaza, one of the city's strongest overall (score 59, rank ~99th percentile). Strongest: edge activation; weakest: natural comfort.
Photo by Darcy via Google Places · cached 5/9/2026
ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green Space scores 58.5 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and edge activation. 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 · 0.03 ha
Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 56%
Scores are not bell-curved. Percentiles and expected scores provide context without changing the underlying model.
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Explain this score
Where did the 59 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
ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green Space works because its edge activation score (81) is one of the city's strongest and its enclosure (93) is also top decile (its perimeter is lined with active uses).
What limits this park
ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green Space is held back by natural comfort (23, bottom quartile): only 0% canopy means little summer shade.
Most distinctive characteristic
Most distinctive feature: exceptionally high edge activation (81, top decile).
Jacobs reading
ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open Green Space is a dense urban social park. Jacobs would recognise it: lots of eyes, lots of streets, lots of edge life; not where you go to escape.
Tradeoffs
- Connectivity (78) significantly outpaces natural comfort (23): well placed in the city but offers little shade or ecological respite.
- 16 nearby towers cast wind and shadow without contributing canopy: passive surveillance is plentiful but human-scale comfort is not.
Performance in context
- This park is a strong overperformer for its cohort: raw 59 versus an expected 36 for similar parks (pocket Urban Plaza) (gap +22).
Typology classification
Classified as Urban Plaza: 311 m², paved (0% canopy), 64.0 buildings/100 m
Edge Activation
Within 100 m of the park edge: 49 active uses (retail, restaurant, cafe, transit_stop) and 1 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 17 mapped paths/walkways and 24 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 15 street intersections within 100 m; 22 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 2 estimated access points across ~80 m of perimeter. edge density is healthy, no superblock penalty. 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: 0.0% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~1246 m. Reading: exposed. Source coverage: 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
64 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (30 mid-rise, 18 low-rise, 16 tower); avg edge height 19.6 m (~7 floors); 64.0 buildings per 100 m of 80 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are at a Jacobs-scale walkable mid-rise (3 to 7 floors); 16 towers ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 30 mid-rise edge buildings.
Source: Toronto 3D Massing (building footprints + heights)
Border Vacuum Risk
Park edges face the city. No significant border vacuum detected.
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)
- cafe: Fahrenheit Coffee26 m
- restaurant: Bar Altura34 m
- retail: Brosche Bridal35 m
- restaurant: Rosie’s Burger36 m
- retail: Third Floor Tailors37 m
- retail: Mokuba39 m
- retail: The Cabinet Salon40 m
- retail: Comfort Nails42 m
- retail: PC Shop Computers43 m
- retail: Outer Layer43 m
- retail: The Dot45 m
- retail: Freshly Baked Tees51 m
- retail: On Your Face Optical54 m
- restaurant: La Palette58 m
- restaurant: Comma58 m
- retail: Brothers Convenience58 m
- retail: Sobr Market Richmond59 m
- restaurant: I Love Sushi59 m
- retail: Gas Station59 m
- retail59 m
- retail: Queen Vape Shop59 m
- retail: Winners59 m
- retail: Organic Nail Bar60 m
- retail: Get Fresh Company61 m
- restaurant: DeMen Bistro63 m
- retail: Loblaws64 m
- restaurant: Wendy's66 m
- retail: Roma Rush66 m
- retail: Natural Foods68 m
- restaurant: The Well Bar Restaurant69 m
- retail: Joe Fresh69 m
- retail: Fresh Picked Fresh Produce & Flowers70 m
- parking lot71 m
- retail72 m
- restaurant: Il Vegano72 m
- restaurant: Saku74 m
- retail: Digitime Custom Tees75 m
- retail: Hi Beads77 m
- restaurant: Tequila Bookworm78 m
- retail: Uncle Terry’s79 m
- retail: Mama Loves You Vintage80 m
- retail: West Camera81 m
- restaurant: BarChef82 m
- restaurant: Java House85 m
- retail: The Denizen85 m
- retail: The Beadery85 m
- retail89 m
- transit stop: Augusta Avenue90 m
- restaurant: Lee Restaurant92 m
- retail: Area Rug Shop95 m
- parking lot110 m
- retail: GNC112 m
- retail: Value Buds115 m
- transit stop: Augusta Avenue119 m
- restaurant: Drom Taberna122 m
- retail: CTE Vapes123 m
- retail: Cosmos Records125 m
- parking lot: Augusta Parking126 m
- retail: Old Times Antiques127 m
- retail: Affordable Textiles128 m
- restaurant: Raku130 m
- restaurant: Ramen Isshin131 m
- retail: Wool House135 m
- restaurant: Osmow's135 m
- retail: Fabric by Designers138 m
- retail138 m
- retail138 m
- retail: Vape29139 m
- cafe: Early Bird140 m
- retail: Arton Beads142 m
- restaurant: Osteria Du143 m
- parking lot144 m
- retail: Off the Wall145 m
- retail149 m
- parking lot149 m
- retail: Bling Bling On Queen150 m
- parking lot150 m
- restaurant: The Dime Roadhouse151 m
- restaurant: Campechano Taqueria153 m
- cafe: Forget Me Not Cafe156 m
Park profile
Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.
Citywide percentile ranks
Across all Toronto parks in the dataset.
- Overall vitality99th
- Edge activation100th
- Connectivity97th
- Amenity diversity67th
- Natural comfort1th
- Enclosure98th
Most similar parks
Closest in metric space across the five structural dimensions.
- Norman Jewison ParkUrban Plaza57
- Grace - College ParketteCorridor / Linear Park59
- Graham ParkUrban Plaza54
- Asquith Green ParkUrban Plaza55
- Sonya'S ParkUrban Plaza60
Most opposite parks
Furthest in metric space. Useful for recognising what kind of park this isn’t.
- Trca Lands ( 26)Ravine / Naturalized Park27
- Toronto Islands - Muggs Island ParkRavine / Naturalized Park25
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park28
- Rouge ParkWaterfront Park25
- Rouge ParkRavine / Naturalized Park26
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.
p72 citywide · p77 within Urban Plaza
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 ALEX WILSON COMMUNITY GARDEN - Open 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.
- 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.