The Changes We’ve Seen

^{By David Weeks}

When I first moved to Barrie, it was a city of about 35,000 people and that number alone probably tells you a lot. 

Back then, Barrie felt less like a city and more like a big neighbourhood where everybody somehow knew everybody else. You couldn’t walk downtown without saying hello to half a dozen people, and if you were a kid hoping to get away with something, forget it.

Today, there’s social media to record our worst moments forever. Back then, we had something far more immediately efficient- people. There was always somebody who knew your parents.

You could be doing something questionable at Centennial Beach at 2:00 in the afternoon, and somehow your Dad knew about it before dinner. The town had a way of policing itself back then.

It was smaller. Simpler. Friendlier. And real estate reflected that.

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The Barrie I Remember

When people look at Barrie today, with nearly 180,000 residents inside the city limits and constant growth all around us, it’s hard to imagine just how different things once looked.

There were very few apartment buildings, and our tallest building downtown was our current city hall with only about a dozen stories. Really no condos to speak of. Most neighbourhoods consisted of similar detached homes on similar streets with similar pricing with the average home price around $30,000.

Today, the average home in Barrie sells for roughly $775,000. That’s a number that would have seemed almost unthinkable back then. Of course, salaries, inflation, and lifestyle needs have changed a lot, too. But there is no question that Barrie real estate has undergone one of the most remarkable changes in Ontario.

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Do you want to know more about Barrie and what it’s like to live here? Keep reading the posts below:

• Is Barrie a Good Place to Live With a Young Family?
• Discover Fun Things To Do in Barrie, Ontario
• Is Barrie in the GTA?

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When Barrie Was “The Affordable Place to Move”

For decades, Barrie was known as a bedroom community for Toronto. People came here because they could get more house for less money, and that hasn’t really changed. What has changed is the sheer number of choices of homes available in Barrie.

Years ago, if someone wanted a larger home, there were only so many options in only so many community pockets. 

Today, buyers can choose from waterfront condos, executive subdivisions, estate communities, townhomes, adult lifestyle developments, luxury custom homes, century homes, lakefront properties, and pretty much everything in between.

The value proposition remains, but the menu has become much much larger.

We Don’t Just Have Neighbourhoods Anymore

We have what we would describe as communities within a community, and one of the biggest changes we’ve witnessed isn’t actually housing. Its identity.

Years ago, Barrie was just Barrie. Today, Barrie is made up of dozens of smaller, different lifestyle communities that each offer something different. Different flavours to choose from. 

• The Old East End offers mature trees, larger lots, historic charm, and a quieter, slower pace.
• Ardagh Bluffs generally attracts buyers looking for trails, nature, and family living but close to shopping and commuting.
• The waterfront offers walkability, which you witness every evening and a connection to Kempenfelt Bay that few cities can match.
• The south end continues to generally appeal to commuters and growing families.

And then there are areas like Bayshore, a lakeside community with great amenities, schools, restaurants, and lakeside recreation that create an entirely different energy.

People don’t simply choose Barrie anymore; they choose the version of Barrie that best fits their lifestyle and budget, and that’s a big difference from years ago when we first moved here.

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Planning to buy your next house in Barrie or Simcoe County? Start by reading the posts below:

• Buying a House: The Hidden Psychology
• How to Buy a House in Ontario
• What Is Title Insurance, and Do I Really Need It?

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Even Barrie Has Bedroom Communities Now

This is where things get interesting, as Barrie was once the bedroom community and now it has its own bedroom communities. Take Snow Valley as an example.

We wrote a blog about this community because it has developed into one of the most desirable estate communities in Simcoe County and beyond. Large luxurious custom homes with forested ½ acre lots. Lots of privacy, exclusivity and nature. Luxury living in a countryside setting, all within minutes of Barrie.

Years ago, buyers seeking that kind of lifestyle often felt they needed to move closer to Toronto’s luxury markets but today they can find it right here. In fact, we recently listed an incredible estate property at 1 Pierce Court in Midhurst that perfectly reflects this evolution.

A gated estate property on over four acres that would rival homes found in luxury communities around the GTA, but with more land and less expensive. And that’s something Barrie simply didn’t offer in the same way back in the day.

The Waterfront Changed Everything

Perhaps no part of Barrie has transformed more dramatically than the waterfront and it’s one of the things that visitors comment about the most. A recent client from the Toronto area said the waterfront reminded him of Florida. Beautiful waterfront with luxurious-looking condos all around it. 

For many years, the waterfront was beautiful but relatively underdeveloped from a residential perspective, but today, condominiums surround the bay with prices ranging from the $300,000s to over $1.3 million.

People can wake up overlooking Kempenfelt Bay, walk to restaurants, enjoy amazing festivals, walk the boardwalk and talk with their neighbours and live a lifestyle that once barely existed in the city. That really changed the housing mix available to buyers.

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Ready to sell your home in Barrie? The posts below will help you get results with minimum effort:

• What Not to Fix When Selling Your House
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The One Thing That Never Changed

For all the growth, all the development, all the traffic, all the new neighbourhoods, and all the growth in home prices, one thing has remained remarkably consistent.

Barrie is still a city built around people. That’s harder to accomplish when you grow from 35,000 residents to nearly 180,000, yet somehow the city has managed to retain much of the friendliness, community pride, and outdoor lifestyle that attracted people here in the first place.

We still gather around the waterfront and celebrate community events or just walk and see the neighbours, or let our dogs have a little social time. We still enjoy our trails, beaches, parks, and all four seasons outdoors. And we still have a pace of life that feels a lot more relaxed than the GTA.

Looking Ahead

The Barrie I moved to decades ago and the Barrie we see today are very different places. The housing stock is more diverse and the communities more distinct. 

The opportunities are greater and the choices are endless.

Whether you’re upsizing, downsizing, buying your first condo, searching for a luxury estate property, looking for waterfront living, or hoping to find that perfect family neighbourhood, Barrie now offers options that simply didn’t exist a few decades ago.

But to us, perhaps the most remarkable thing isn’t how much Barrie has changed but that, despite all the growth, it still feels like Barrie. It’s a big city now with big city good and bad. But people here come and stay because it still has that feel. 

And around here, that’s a very good thing. We remember.

Do you want a true local expert to help you when buying or selling your next home? Our Barrie real estate agents are happy to help. Reach out to us today at 705.305.4174 or email hello@weeksgroup.ca to begin a conversation.