Name: Barrie, ON
Rating: 0.0

( 14 Ratings )

Living in Barrie, ON

Ranks better than 79% of areas Follow

Population

159,618

Median Age

38.4 Years

Barrie Area Facts

Barrie has a Livability Score of 79_/100, which is considered exceptional
Barrie crime rates are 12% higher than the Ontario average
Cost of living in Barrie is 16% lower than the Ontario average

What do the locals think about Barrie?

58%

Family friendly

74%

Public transit is accessible

26%

Walkable to grocery stores

42%

Yards are well-kept

74%

Lots of parks

47%

Walkable to restaurants

Friendly neighbors

Safe at night

Pet friendly

Streets have sidewalks

42%

A quiet area

32%

Sense of community

Based on 19 votes from AreaVibes users. Take the poll

Barrie Reviews

Write a review about Barrie Tell people what you like or don't like about Barrie…

Abusive staff traumatized me even in adulthood. 1 rating By Anonymous ( Dec 25, 2022) This school TRAUMATIZED ME. I'm almost in my twenties now and I still have memories of the mistreatment I faced at this school. in grades 5-6 everything was fine, the teachers were decent. grade 7 I started getting bullied but its not a big deal, its how kids are. Then there was ...Read More grade eight, the year where the teachers treated me like low class garbage, Miss Degerche to be exact. I'd be crying in the middle of class over my home issues, and the teacher would say "I dont care how you're feeling, you're going to present your project." causing the entire class to laugh at me. I thought they were treating me bad because of "preparing me for high school" but then I actually went and completed high school and it was HEAVEN compared to the treatment I faced at willow landing. You know how in grade eight the teacher helps you with picking your high school level or however it works? I said I would like to go into applied or academic. the teacher was like "uh huh." I WAS PUT IN LOCALLY DEVELOPED DESPITE MY AVERAGE GRADES!! I had to wait until I was halfway through grade nine to fix that. I remember there was a kid who used to draw male genitalia on my schoolwork and would throw clay at me in class, teacher said "just ignore it." and i had to suffer through all that mistreatment from that kid just because the teacher was too lazy to punish him. I wish I was lying when I said the teacher disliked me, but she really did. there was one time where she asked us to raise our hand if we wanted the main part in the play we were going to do and I was the only one who raised my hand, she looked at me and ignored me, then picked someone random. Other times when we had Math she would ask me to answer one of the hardest questions in front of the class (I am diagnosed with a learning disability) and when I said I didn't know she would tell me to pay attention, humiliating me in front of the class. there was another time where she was reading a book to the class and I was drawing on a sticky note for fun, she stopped reading called out my name super loud, everyone looked at me and I was terrified, I was just sketching a flower on a sticky note because when I draw it helps me listen to the words better. I remember during grade 8 grad photos I fell on the ground while she was walking through the hallway and she stormed in and walked over to me and said "IF YOU'RE GOING TO MESS AROUND THEN YOU ARENT GETTING YOUR PHOTOS TAKEN!" and managed to shakily say "I fell." and she left me alone. this teacher caused SO much issues with my adult life, I was unable to talk to women much older than me without being terrified, I always feel stupid when I share my thoughts on something, etc. I have been diagnosed with Depression and PTSD. the PTSD is mainly from my home life but I think the fact that my elementary school experiences still haunt my nightmares might mean the school is slightly responsible for my PTSD. Read Less

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Compare Barrie, ON Livability

Barrie, ON

Sitting on the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, Barrie is in the northern part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe region in Central Ontario. It is one of Canada’s largest cities, with much of its growth being quite recent. In fact, it has grown into a bedroom community for Toronto, which has brought on an influx of housing and commercial developments. In the past, Barrie was inhabited mainly by part-time residents who had summer getaways here. Today, Barrie is a lively city with a strong economy that is made up of distribution centres, bottling centres and financial operation centres, although summer tourism still plays a big part in the city’s economy.

In terms of living, Barrie is a dynamic city with beach-lined walkways, parks, cultural sights and community centres. The city also hosts a plethora of annual festivals, including Winterfest, Ecofest, the New Music Festival and the Barrie Film Festival. When a festival is not going on, downtown Barrie is the liveliest, trendiest area of the city and where any Barrie city guide will tell you to go if you want to shop in funky boutiques, admire local art, listen to live music or have a great meal. As well, Georgian College is not too far away, meaning the downtown area is popular amongst students.

Barrie is substantially cheaper than Toronto and on par with the national average. This is another reason why it is such a great place to live, especially of you want to live a more laid-back lifestyle, but still want to be close to the ‘big city’. Go Transit links Barrie to Union Station by both train and bus, while commuter buses also connect the city to other areas of Toronto and the GTA. There are also 11 bus routes that traverse the city, some of which go to the GO stations, Georgian College and Park Place, which is large shopping mall in the south end of the city. If you would prefer to cycle or walk, there are hundreds of kilometres of trails and paths in Barrie.

Barrie is very family-friendly, which is another great thing about living here. There are more than enough schools for everyone, some of which are public, some catholic and a few that are French. On top of that, it is one of the safest cities in the country! This, together with its summer festivals and beaches, attracts numerous tourists, as well as a few summer residents. Any Barrie guide will put the waterfront at Kempenfelt Bay at the top of the list of things to do, as it is home to 3 beaches, a beautiful trail, waterfront parks and numerous fantastic restaurants. If you do come for a visit, you will also want to walk around the historic heart of downtown Barrie.