Re: Barrie
 

Torquay, Newquay, have enough people moved there from Toronto to make it look like Boat Quay?

Re: Barrie
 

Wasaga Beach reminds me of the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales, around Abersoch in the summer when the Cheshire Set move in - except the locals don't seem so pissed off with the intrusive tourists who by and large appear to be either noisy rich kids with too much of daddy's money to show off, or of the knotted hanky on head working class ilk.
Not that it's a bad place. The beach is great.

As for Barrie; well - I live a 30 minute drive away and go there probably once a week for various reasons.

As I've said before on here - downtown looks pretty grotty but there are plans afoot to prettify it. West on Dunlop looks like the "rough" end of town to me, although Allandale could do with an overhaul as well. The outskirts are, as described, malls and strip malls (especially on Maple View and Bayfield) and a mass of sub-divisions. The lake front has a couple of nice little park areas and a marina. For my part it would be great if they stuck a couple of nice restaurants and bars down there as well, but the Ontario government's fear of the demon drink would probably prevent that.
Further out, Grenfel and Centre Vespra seem like nice little hamlets to me as do most places in Springwater township. Even further afield, but still with easy access to the 400, Alliston's a growing little town, Cookstown is pretty, and anywhere over towards Innisfil seems like a good bet too. Although the nearer the lake you are, the colder it will be in winter.

Re: Barrie
 

I think this post is accurate and helpful. That last sentence though? Why?

Re: Barrie
 

Dunno - I'm not a scientist. :confused: ;)

From what I recall though, Barrie and around Lake Simcoe are a couple of degrees colder in the winter than places "inland". My guess is that because the lake freezes over, the wind blowing over the ice creates some kind of cooling-even-more effect...

Re: Barrie
 

Hi,

We have visited Barrie 3 times now over the last 2 years and have really fallen for the place. Sure, you get the odd shooting or stabbing but to be honest, it's exactly the same here in the UK. Only a month ago a teenager was stabbed to death in our local railway station carpark. I think that if you like somewhere, try it out for a few years and see how it goes. If you don't like it after that period, then move.

Barrie has many things going for it IMO, with Park Place construction starting this week and work on the downtown area starting to take shape, the whole area will benefit. At the end of the year GO trains start to run from barrie to union station with a 4 departures in the morning, 4 returns in the afternoon so the link to Toronto should improve greatly.

Last but by no means least, if you are into hockey, a night out at a Colts game is highly recomended.

Please drop me a PM if you want to discuss Barrie further.

Poomagoo

Re: Barrie
 

So what it has going for it is:

- things yet to be built

- trains yet to come but ultimately providing a long commute to Toronto

- minor league ice hockey.

I'm not quite catching how it's better than Oshawa or Hamilton where they already have trains.

Re: Barrie
 

I wasn't talking about Hamilton or Oshawa. I was discussing Barrie, which was the topic of the thread.

Like it or not, Barrie has a lot going for it. Just a couple:

o Location - It is very central being only an hour away from the GTA and the same from Muskoka.

o Inward Investment - Companies are opening offices there all the time. TD and BOM are having/ have had large offices built downtown. Park Place promises to bring 5000 jobs and 300 businesses to the area.

I have only ever been to Hamilton for the hockey and have never been to Oshawa so I cannot compare them with Barrie.

Re: Barrie
 

DBD can be very negative at times. It could have to do with the fact that he commutes about 100 km to work. If you like Barrie then good for you. DBD doesn't like Barrie (not sure what he does like) and he'll be sure to tell you.

Re: Barrie
 

I don't like Barrie that's true. I don't like Oshawa either. I don't mind Hamilton.

Still if someone says X place has a lot going for it and that "lot" turns out to be that it's "an hour" (ahem, by helicopter perhaps) away from town and may have some buildings built in the future it seems reasonable to ask what they're on about.

I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Re: Barrie
 

If the Go makes no stops inbetween Barrie and Toronto and/or is a high speed link, then an hour is feasible.

However - having seen how fast trains tend to go in this country - even "commuter" trains, I would be surprised if they manage the journey in an hour.
Doesn't the Go travel out of Guelph as well? And I'm guessing that it is only slightly nearer Toronto than Barrie - anybody any idea how long that takes?

Catch the 400 in a good mood and you can certainly make the outskirts of the city in less than an hour in a car from Barrie.

Re: Barrie
 

The GO from Guelph is a bus to the train so it's not really comparable.

I have a colleague who lives in Barrie ("****ing divorce, priced out of the GTA") until recently he had a contract in Markham. He reckoned that was 90 minutes getting to work for 7:30. It's less than an hour if you can go in earlier but getting home would be another thing. Now he has a contract in Mississauga which is two hours and change on a good day. He's not happy.