Can someone please give me some info on Barrie in terms of a place to live, how far from Toronto city centre etc etc.

Thanks

There is a brief article on Barrie in the BE Wiki section.

Just for future reference, you can use websites like Map Quest to find out distances in Canada.

Anyway, as the Wiki article states, Barrie is 100 km (60 miles) from Toronto.

My nephew and his wife, who previously had lived in Richmond Hill, moved to Barrie a couple of years ago. They are blissfully happy there. They feel that Barrie has everything they need (a pleasant lake, shopping facilities, etc.).

Before moving to Barrie, however, my nephew and his wife did find new jobs. My nephew managed to get a transfer with his existing employer. His wife accepted a voluntary redundancy package from her downtown Toronto employer, and found a job with a different employer in Barrie.

My nephew and his wife have a young daughter, and they like to spend as much time with her as possible. In fact that was one of the factors that made Barrie attractive to them in the first place. They had found the commute from Richmond Hill to downtown Toronto a bit much. So I do not believe they would be amongst the people who would consider Barrie to be within commuting distance of downtown Toronto, although some people do view it that way.

I believe it is about 100 km north of downtown Toronto. Highway 400 goes from the north edge of Toronto to Barrie. However, it can be quite clogged during rush hours, long weekends and in bad weather (Barrie gets a lot more snow than Toronto).

I have friends from Barrie and they couldn't wait to get out...however, it is a bit more sophisticated now, and is becoming quite a commuter town.

We were out there visiting OH family in early March. We arrived in ON 2 days after the really bad storm that caused a 75 car pile up on the 400. So yes definately more snow.

We did the drive from Burlington to Richmond Hill on a friday evening. We left at about 3.30, stopped for Timmies etc and arrived in Richmond Hill at about 6.30pm (we drove around for a while looking for a liquor store so don't let the time line distract you too much.)

Drove to Barrie the following day. I can see that the highway would be really busy in the Summer, it was pretty busy on this day in March. (noticed quite a few idiots on the road) We did stop at the outlet mall just off the 400 - found the Cadbury store yippeee....

First impressions of Barrie...... well as OH family live in the North we took the last exit into town. Kinda reminded me of Macleod trail in Calgary. Lots of traffic lights, with large parking lots either side (shops attached to these parking lots of course). Took a while to get through this area as it was about 3pm on a Saturday, always busy time I find, where ever you are)

The area we stayed in was very quiet, but really not that far away from anything. 5-8 min drive to Sobeys. I understand that there are numerous areas such as this in Barrie. OH's family members continue to live in Barrie and commute to Toronto. They do acknowledge that it can be a long drive but they love the amount of property they can afford in Barrie as opposed to Toronto and feel that this out weighs the commut time. (They are DINKS, not sure whether they would say this if kids were involved)

We did drive up to Severn Bridge the following day. This is the start of 'cottage country'. Lovely area definately busy in the summer though.

Check out the town of Barrie website. http://www.tourismbarrie.com/

Casino Rama is really nice and only 30 minutes north in Orillia

We visited Barrie in early April, we have decided to move there when we land 'hopefully' in August. It was a straight choice between there and Oakville/Milton area. Since we live a pretty rural area of Essex, the urban sprawl of the GTA put us off Oakville. We have seen a house we hope to buy in Craighurst, but should that fall through we would still like to settle there or in the Shanty Bay area. Was very impressed with local schools, plenty of amenities nearby, new hospital being built, plans to redevelope the town centre by the lake i believe. What you could get for you money in this area far outways anything within the GTA. We spent a couple of days with a local realtor who did a fantastic job of showing us around, if you ever want his details let me know.

Hi,

I was born in Toronto, but spent many years growing up in Barrie. I lived there between 1980 and 1988, then again between 1992 and 1994 and again between 1996 and 1998.

Barrie has changed a lot over the years, but having visited it again in 2005, I would still class it as an excellent place to live. It has a lot to offer, being only 100km from Toronto. The new train link to toronto will be up and running soon also, which may help some with a commute... and highway 400 is supposed to be widened, again. As more commuters move to Barrie, more business move there also, so job prospects are much improved.

There are lots and lots of activities to do if you enjoy the outdoor life. There are also a lot of smaller towns nearby Barrie (with 15 minute drive), which in my opinon, are perhaps better places to live now, due to the evergrowing size of the city itself. Plenty of good schools if you have kids.
The weather is more extreme than Toronto, in winter and summer.... but that makes for great skiing and canoeing.... check:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/fea...s/CAON0040.htm

Check out these websites for info on Barrie:

City websites:
http://www.city.barrie.on.ca/

Toursit website:
http://www.tourismbarrie.com/

Pictures / Info on Barrie:
http://www.scenicbarrie.com/

Newpapers:
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/webapp/sitepages/ (local newspaper)
http://www.simcoe.com/ (another local newspaper.. barrie advance)

Hope this helps...

hi ,info on good realtor would be great...we had an excellent one in london,ontario a couple of years ago before we came back to NZ...we will be in ontario in july....so a contact would be a great help....many thanks.

Howard just sent you PM.

Barrie's mayor is currently in a spot of bother for going on an expenses-paid trip to China with 2 local land-developers. Although he paid for his plane ticket, apparently.

The Barrie council chamber have just elected to refer it over for police investigation.

It's all go in local politics in Central Ontario. Not.

LB.

Corruption is endemic in Canadian politics and it's usual for officials having influence over publicly funded contracts to have relationships with the bidders that would be unacceptable in the UK (refer Airbus affair, Toronto computer leasing arrangements, Workman's Compensation Board, Chuck Guite, Ontario Hydro's sail purchase, Walkerton tainted water, etc. etc.)

I wouldn't let corruption in the council be a factor in choosing or not choosing Barrie unless you want to bribe the council yourself.