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Toronto Parks Atlas
Brookwell Park, site photograph
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Neighbourhood Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)York University Heights (27)confidence moderate

Brookwell Park

Neighbourhood Park, above average overall (score 39, rank ~72th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: edge activation.

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

Brookwell Park scores 39.2 / 100. Strongest dimensions: enclosure / eyes on park and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (0). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best fordaily urban life

Area · 1.12 ha

Vitality Score
39/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence
39.2 / 100
Citywide
72nd
of all 3,273 parks
Among Neighbourhood Park
60th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
37
median in medium Neighbourhood Park (n=363)
Performance gap
+2
raw − expected · context confidence high
typical

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.

Explain this score

Where did the 39 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 · p45
-12.5
Amenity Diversity21 · p90
-5.8
Border Vacuum Risk12 (risk)
+3.8
Enclosure / Eyes on Park70 · p69
+2.0
Connectivity59 · p73
+1.9
Natural Comfort49 · p57
-0.2

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

Brookwell Park works because its amenity diversity score (21) is in the top tier and its connectivity (59) is also above-average.

What limits this park

Brookwell Park doesn't have a clear weakness. Every measured dimension is at or above the middle of the pack.

Most distinctive characteristic

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

Jacobs reading

Brookwell 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 (70) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 0): frame without animation.

Typology classification

confidence 70%
Neighbourhood Park

Classified as Neighbourhood Park: 1.1 ha, framed by 4 mid-rise vs 0 towers

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
0.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 1 active uses (school) 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%
59.4 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 5 mapped paths/walkways and 12 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 6 street intersections within 100 m; 20 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 4 estimated access points across ~605 m of perimeter. low edge density, significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m3
Intersections within 100 m6
Paths/walkways (50 m)5
Sidewalk segments (50 m)12
Transit stops (400 m)20
Estimated entrances4
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.50
Park perimeter605 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 (basketball, 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%
48.9 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 9.1% estimated tree canopy; nearest waterbody ~391 m; 3 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (2.7/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 coverage9.1%
Canopy area0.10 ha
Inside ravine system0.0%
Water surface inside park0.0%
Nearest water (if outside park)391 m
Estimated green100.0%
City-mapped trees inside polygon3
Tree density2.7 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)43.9
Sample points used77

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
70.1 / 100

54 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (4 mid-rise, 50 low-rise, 0 tower); avg edge height 7.2 m (~2 floors); 8.9 buildings per 100 m of 605 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are low-rise (mostly 2 to 3 floors); no towers immediately adjacent. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 4 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m54
Buildings within 50 m54
Avg edge height7.2 m (~2 floors)
Tallest edge building30.8 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)4
Low-rise (< 3 floors)50
Towers (≥ 13 floors)0
Frontage density8.93 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge7%
Tower share of edge0%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter605 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 (2 types · 2 records)

  • basketball
  • playground

Nearby active-edge features (27)

  • parking lot22 m
  • school: Africentric Alternative School82 m
  • parking lot91 m
  • parking lot112 m
  • transit stop: 1450 Sheppard Avenue West129 m
  • transit stop: Sentinel Rd at Sheppard Avenue W130 m
  • transit stop: Sheppard Avenue W at Sentinel Rd134 m
  • transit stop139 m
  • transit stop: Sentinel Rd at Fredrick Mowat Lane148 m
  • retail: Bob Variety Store150 m
  • restaurant: Pizza Pizza150 m
  • restaurant: Mang Tomas Lechon150 m
  • restaurant: Mumtaz Grill Restaurant150 m
  • restaurant: Pho Huong Trang151 m
  • transit stop: Sentinel Rd at Fredrick Mowat Lane153 m
  • transit stop: Sentinel Rd at Sheppard Avenue W156 m
  • parking lot157 m
  • retail: AyaSofya Super Market158 m
  • retail: Ryna's Nail Keele Beauty and Spa159 m
  • parking lot161 m
  • parking lot162 m
  • parking lot165 m
  • parking lot178 m
  • retail182 m
  • parking lot184 m
  • parking lot188 m
  • parking lot190 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureBrookwell 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
    72th
  • Edge activation
    45th
  • Connectivity
    73th
  • Amenity diversity
    90th
  • Natural comfort
    57th
  • Enclosure
    69th

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 Brookwell 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.

  • 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.

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.