Originally Posted by poomagoo

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

Originally Posted by dbd33

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.

Originally Posted by poomagoo

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.

Originally Posted by clynnog

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.

Originally Posted by dbd33

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.

Originally Posted by Mr Lee

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.