My job's in downtown TO so it would make no sense for me to live in Barrie. Even if I worked in the northern reaches of Toronto I suspect I would choose somewhere else to live. I don't know Barrie except by reputation, but dbd's view seems pretty universal, and Rontel himself/herself said that it seems to suffer from much the same outer-suburban "issues" as somewhere like Croydon (or Southend, I maintain).

Rontel, will you be working in Toronto? If I were going to have to deal with Hwy 400 every morning and evening I would want to get home to somewhere pretty spectacular at the end of it. I'm not sure Barrie would tick that box for me. Sure, Oakville's not exactly a Utopia, but my commute is under an hour door-to-door and I can read the paper in the train on the way.

Or, at least, dramatically different from what I could afford locally. I wouldn't move way out there for the sake of an extra bedroom or bigger lawn.

I think that Barrie's reputation precedes it. We met up with friends in Richmond Hill last year who asked why we were going to Barrie. When we showed them pictures they were pleasantly surprised.

Yes there were a few s*x shops (we've discussed this before on BE) but the end of Dunlop Street and the area around Vespra is the rundown area as far as I can see.

We met a lot of really nice people (who didn't have lower incomes by the way) - one neighbour where we were staying took us out on his speedboat, I visited radio stations where the djs had actually bothered to reply to my request to meetup.

We'd both be self employed from home so commuting wouldn't be an issue.

Paul

Well good luck to you. It seems an odd place to go but, if you like it, you like it.

I don't live there either, and it's years since I visited.

kelly and andrew (kellydrew) settled there about a year ago, from Wigan. Neither seems to post on here anymore, but they might occasionally lurk or check PM.

Try searching on their username to see if anything helpful comes up.

Novo.

Barrie is booming, affordable housing is certainly a plus, and it also has an excellent hospital.

Several smaller villages are proximal.

Housing is substantially less expensive than TO, and there are job opportunities there, not every one commutes.

Just NW of Barrie is Wasaga Beach, also a very rapidly growing area.

Recreational opportunities abound, and skiing is readily available, plus you are on Lake Simcoe, for the boaters and fishers.

Oakville is closer, but you pay 2 to 3 times the price for the same house.

I am about 1 hour NW of Barrie, on Georgian Bay, would not move to the city again, on a bet, and i lived in Leaside, at the city core.

The Salmon are spawning, you can watch them jump at the Dam.

Ahem. Leaside, while doubtless nice enough, is quintessentially suburban. It's hardly "at the city core".

hi steve's oh here
we are going to wasaga beach
but you really dont need to use the main strip of the beach if you dont want to. if you get a local map from a realtor and you look at it you can clearly see the back roads take you every were.
from the super store you can go straight out to stayner to why 26 or go to con 12 and that will take you to the other side of the beach to elmvale. (following it to the end pass christmas tree creak, turtle pass, wolves crossing, and over the bridge than when you have to turn you go left to elmvale or right to barrie why 26.
you can also take sunnydale road pass wasaga sands to con 12 or power line road so you dont have to take the main road ie if you were in berrie or toronto you will learn the roads. if you dont know ask someone anyone will tell you the back way if not ask me i grew up there stayner, collingwood, and yes i can fine the best bars in berrie and the trash bars in barrie and also know how to get through base Borden to go to alliston the short way.
but if you ask you will get where your going.

dbd33, Bayview and Eglinton is in the suburbs, I think not, that is why it is listed as Central Toronto.(C11)

Lawrence Park, Rosedale, North Toronto, suburbs, since when??

The city centre has moved well North of Queen and Yonge, that is why Y and E is called the New Down Town.

Speaking of Stayner, new plans will effectively DOUBLE the size of the town.

This area is exploding , way too many people moving here, the roads are not equipped for the Traffic, and since we vote Conservative, the Liberals ignore us.

I'd say downtown is pretty much lake to Bloor, Spadina to Parliament. Everything north of Bloor is pretty suburban, even if developers call it "New Down Town" or whatever. Leaside and Lawrence Park especially so. Leaside is even reached from downtown by driving up a four lane limited access highway, it's not like you can walk there. It's even past the metroland bungalows of Don Mills. Lawrence Park is too remote for me to be able to locate but wasn't it developed all at one to accomodate overspill from somewhere else? Classic 'burb.

All that said, these 'burbs are not horrible, just dull. Very much Hyacinth Bucket territory.

Somewhere above Oakvillian compared Barrie to Southend. I don't think that quite holds. Wasaga Beach as Newquay works better; a place full of drunken yobs in the summer, abandoned in winter. "Exploding" is something we might hope for it.

Well i am glad you don't have to live there DBD, some of us may like it but then as you said above maybe all of the GTA is for the Hyacinths of this world

I must admit to an affection for muscle cars, big hair and spandex. Wasaga in summer is like the set of Grease and that's fun in small doses. If you don't take the kids.

Hmmm well i feel i have just walked on to the set of grumpy old men