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Toronto Parks Atlas
Home Smith Park, site photograph
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Ravine / Naturalized Parkcluster ·Walkable Mid-Rise Neighbourhood Parks (large-scale)Lambton Baby Point (114)confidence moderate

Home Smith Park

Ravine / Naturalized Park, above average overall (score 43, rank ~85th percentile). Strongest: amenity diversity; weakest: enclosure.

Photo by Kimberly Burke via Google Places · cached 5/9/2026

Home Smith Park scores 42.8 / 100. Strongest dimensions: natural comfort and connectivity. Weakest: edge activation (2). Border-vacuum risk is low. This score is a transparent reading of Jane Jacobs-style vitality factors, not a definitive judgment.

Best forescape into natureshaded summer use

Area · 13.92 ha

Vitality Score
43/100

Weighted across six dimensions · confidence 72%

Data Confidence
42.8 / 100
Citywide
84th
of all 3,273 parks
Among Ravine / Naturalized Park
87th
same primary typology
Expected for similar parks
36
median in large Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine (n=119)
Performance gap
+7
raw − expected · context confidence high
modest 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.
Home Smith 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 43 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 Activation2 · p65
-12.0
Amenity Diversity21 · p90
-5.8
Connectivity67 · p87
+3.4
Natural Comfort70 · p84
+3.0
Border Vacuum Risk24 (risk)
+2.6
Enclosure / Eyes on Park65 · p59
+1.5

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

Home Smith Park works because its amenity diversity score (21) is in the top tier and its connectivity (67) is also top quartile.

What limits this park

.

Most distinctive characteristic

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

Jacobs reading

Home Smith 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 (65) but the surrounding streets are quiet (edge activation 2): frame without animation.

Performance in context

  • A modest overperformer for its ravine / naturalized park typology (+7 vs the median in large Ravine / Naturalized Park ravine).

Typology classification

confidence 75%
Ravine / Naturalized Parkalso reads as Corridor / Linear Park

Classified as Ravine / Naturalized Park: 99% ravine overlap, 31% canopy. Secondary read: Corridor / Linear Park (shape elongation 3.9× a circle of equal area).

Edge Activation

25% weightpartial 60%
2.0 / 100

Within 100 m of the park edge: 6 active uses (transit_stop, retail, restaurant) and 6 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%
67.2 / 100

Connectivity blends paths, intersections, transit, entrances, and edge density. This park has 8 mapped paths/walkways and 43 sidewalk segments within 50 m; 24 street intersections within 100 m; 30 transit stops within a 400 m walk; 2 estimated access points across ~5,200 m of perimeter. low edge density, significant superblock penalty applied. Source coverage: centreline, pedestrian_network, transit_osm.

Streets within 25 m19
Intersections within 100 m24
Paths/walkways (50 m)8
Sidewalk segments (50 m)43
Transit stops (400 m)30
Estimated entrances2
Edge connections / 100 m perimeter0.36
Park perimeter5,200 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 (picnic, 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%
70.2 / 100

Natural-comfort components for this park: 31.4% estimated tree canopy; 99.4% inside the ravine system; 0.6% water surface; 20 city-mapped trees inside the polygon (1.4/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 coverage31.4%
Canopy area4.38 ha
Inside ravine system99.4%
Water surface inside park0.6%
Nearest water (if outside park)0 m (inside)
Estimated green99.4%
City-mapped trees inside polygon20
Tree density1.4 / ha
Cover diversity (Shannon, 0 to 100)52.7
Sample points used159

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

Enclosure / Eyes on Park

10% weightmeasured 80%
65.4 / 100

174 buildings within 25 m of the park edge (32 mid-rise, 141 low-rise, 1 tower); avg edge height 8.0 m (~3 floors); 3.3 buildings per 100 m of 5,200 m perimeter (strong frontage density); edges are low-rise (mostly 2 to 3 floors); 1 tower ≥ 40 m within 25 m of the edge. "Eyes on the park" come strongest from the 32 mid-rise edge buildings.

Buildings within 25 m174
Buildings within 50 m174
Avg edge height8.0 m (~3 floors)
Tallest edge building43.6 m
Mid-rise (3 to 7 floors)32
Low-rise (< 3 floors)141
Towers (≥ 13 floors)1
Frontage density3.35 per 100 m perimeter
Mid-rise share of edge18%
Tower share of edge1%
Blank-edge share (proxy)0%
Park perimeter5,200 m

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

Border Vacuum Risk

10% weightpartial 60%
24.0 risk

Border-vacuum factors within 50 m of the park: parking_lot, 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)

  • picnic
  • washroom

Nearby active-edge features (49)

  • parking lot3 m
  • parking lot31 m
  • transit stop: Old Dundas Street31 m
  • transit stop: Old Dundas Street39 m
  • retail: Patricia's Cake Creations73 m
  • parking lot76 m
  • parking lot84 m
  • restaurant: Good Grains84 m
  • retail: Malta's Finest Pastries94 m
  • parking lot98 m
  • retail: Ready Set Fetch99 m
  • parking lot99 m
  • parking lot101 m
  • retail: Elford Floral Design103 m
  • parking lot108 m
  • parking lot109 m
  • restaurant: The Old Mill115 m
  • parking lot116 m
  • transit stop: Old Mill Station118 m
  • transit stop120 m
  • parking lot124 m
  • parking lot124 m
  • rail: Bloor-Danforth Line127 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West129 m
  • rail: Bloor-Danforth Line131 m
  • transit stop: Old Mill Station135 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West135 m
  • retail: Gateway on the Go136 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West137 m
  • parking lot143 m
  • transit stop145 m
  • transit stop: Old Dundas St at Lundy Ave146 m
  • transit stop: Old Mill Trail146 m
  • retail: Swirls157 m
  • transit stop160 m
  • transit stop168 m
  • retail: Kingsway Persian Rugs169 m
  • rail: Bloor-Danforth Line172 m
  • rail: Bloor-Danforth Line176 m
  • rail: Bloor-Danforth Line180 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West180 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West181 m
  • rail: Bloor-Danforth Line184 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West185 m
  • retail: Palmer Massage Therapy Clinic192 m
  • parking lot194 m
  • highway: Bloor Street West196 m
  • transit stop196 m
  • transit stop196 m

Park profile

Five-axis radar across the structural dimensions.

Edge ActivationConnectivityAmenity DiversityNatural ComfortEnclosureHome Smith 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
    85th
  • Edge activation
    65th
  • Connectivity
    87th
  • Amenity diversity
    90th
  • Natural comfort
    84th
  • Enclosure
    59th

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.

medium-confidence match

“Riverfront park with views of small animals & waterfowl, plus picnic areas & a paved trail.” (Google editorial summary)

Visitor signal score47 / 100
46.6 / 100

p59 citywide · p67 within Ravine / Naturalized Park

Volume (saturated)49
Density / ha25
Rating contribution93
Match dampener×0.85
Average rating
★ 4.7
out of 5
Ratings collected
475
total reviews
Photos uploaded
10
total contributors

Source: Google Places API · match medium (0.76 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 Home Smith 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.

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.