Here’s where Toronto sidewalks needed the most help in 2022
We mapped open data to find out where the most damaged-sidewalk reports come from, and which ones get resolved the quickest.
Toronto sidewalks take a beating throughout the year from extreme weather, construction projects, and the constant pounding of feet.
And as such, it’s common for locals to both spot and report cracked and broken sidewalks, which create injury risk and can have a major effect on mobility for residents.
According to complaint data from the City’s 311 service, residents filed 3,311 reports of damaged sidewalks in 2022. That’s up five per cent from 3,152 in 2021 and up 10 per cent from 3,010 in 2020, but well down from a database high of 4,475 reports in 2014.
But where do the bulk of these reports emerge from, and how quickly are they addressed?
Luckily, the 311 data comes with general location info and a status for each report. We mapped the info for 2022, looking specifically at total reports by ward, and the percentage that remain unresolved.
Explore the map to check out the status of sidewalk damage reports in your ward and read on for some key takeaways:
What parts of Toronto have the most damaged sidewalk reports?
As one might expect, the Central Toronto area yields a large proportion of the overall damaged sidewalk reports:
- Spadina-Fort York led the way with 203 reports (6.13 per cent of all reports in the city) of sidewalk damage.
- Three of the other top six most-reported areas are from Central Toronto as well, including Toronto Centre (191 reports), University-Rosedale (175), and Toronto-St. Paul’s (171).
- Way out in front in terms of damage reports per square kilometre is Toronto Centre, with 32.56.
- The highest number of damaged sidewalk reports outside the downtown area belong to Etobicoke-Lakeshore and Willowdale (both with 177 reports).
The wards with the fewest reports of damaged sidewalks include Don Valley East (42 reports), Scarborough-Agincourt (88), and York Centre (91).
The two areas with the lowest number of reports per square kilometre sit in the northwest and northeast corners of the city: Scarborough Rouge Park (2.11 reports per sq. km) and Etobicoke North (2.54).
Unresolved Reports / Reports Per km2
Do 311 reports result in sidewalk fixes?
On the whole, 71 per cent of all 2022 reports have been resolved, while 26 per cent are still in progress and three per cent are listed as new/unknown.
Centrally located wards tend to be the areas where reports get handled most quickly:
- The areas with the greatest percentage of resolved reports are University-Rosedale and Beaches-East York (85 per cent resolved), as well as Toronto Centre and Toronto-Danforth (84 per cent).
- Six other wards top the 75 per cent completed threshold, and they are all largely in the centre of the city.
- The furthest north of those central wards are Don Valley West (79 per cent completed) and Eglinton-Lawrence (80 per cent).
The three wards with the lowest percentage of resolved reports are the two with the least number of total reports — Etobicoke North (45 per cent resolved) and Scarborough-Rouge Park (49 per cent) — as well as Scarborough-Agincourt (47 per cent).
For all of these areas, at least 40 per cent of their 2022 reports are still in progress. Etobicoke North, for instance, has 68 reports still in progress versus 47 completed.
The “Central” problem
The higher numbers for both total reports and percentage of resolved reports in the downtown areas are likely an effect of greater amounts of construction and foot traffic.
While the COVID-19 pandemic kept people close to home for large chunks of 2020 and 2021, recent data from the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area showed foot traffic on Yonge during the 2022 holiday season actually exceeded that of 2019.
That’s both more pounding, and potential for more pedestrians to get injured while navigating broken or cracked sidewalks, which creates increased urgency.
Is there a damaged sidewalk in your neighbourhood? Click here to report it and make a service request.
Code and markup by Kyle Duncan. ©Torontoverse, 2023