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Official name | Barrie |
---|---|
Settlement type | City |
Motto | The People are the City |
Image shield | Barrie, Ontario Coat of Arms.jpg |
Pushpin map | Canada Ontario |
Pushpin mapsize | 220 |
Pushpin map caption | Location of Barrie |
Coordinates region | CA-ON |
Subdivision type | Country |
Subdivision name | |
Subdivision type1 | Province |
Subdivision name1 | |
Subdivision type2 | County |
Subdivision name2 | Simcoe |
Parts type | Wards |
Parts | 10 wards |
Parts style | coll |
P1 | Ward 1 |
P2 | Ward 2 |
P3 | Ward 3 |
P4 | Ward 4 |
P5 | Ward 5 |
P6 | Ward 6 |
P7 | Ward 7 |
P8 | Ward 8 |
P9 | Ward 9 |
P10 | Ward 10 |
Leader title | Mayor |
Leader name | Jeffrey Robert Lehman |
Leader title1 | Council |
Leader name1 | Barrie City Council |
Leader title2 | MPP |
Leader name2 | Aileen Carroll (LIB) |
Leader title3 | MP |
Leader name3 | Patrick Brown (CON) |
Named for | Sir Robert Barrie |
Established title | First settled |
Established date | End of War of 1812 |
Established title1 | Established |
Established date1 | 1837 (town) |
Established title2 | Established |
Established date2 | 1853 (city) |
Area total km2 | 76.99 |
Area metro km2 | 897.47 |
Area urban km2 | 171.53 |
Area footnotes | |
Population as of | 2006 |
Population total | 128430 (35th) |
Population density km2 | 1668.14 |
Population metro | 177061 (21st) |
Population density metro km2 | 197.29 |
Population urban | 157501 |
Population density urban km2 | 918.27 |
Population blank1 title | Ethnicity |
Population blank1 | |
Timezone | EST |
Utc offset | -5 |
Timezone dst | EDT |
Utc offset dst | -4 |
Latns | N |
Coordinates | 44°24′48″N79°40′48″N |
Longew | W |
Elevation m | 252 |
Postal code type | Postal code |
Postal code | L4M-L4N |
Area code | 705 (and "249" in March, 2011) |
Twin1 | Zweibrücken |
Twin1 country | |
Twin2 | Murayama |
Twin2 country | |
Twin3 | Taizhou |
Twin3 country | |
Website | www.barrie.ca |
Barrie is a city located on Kempenfelt Bay, an arm of Lake Simcoe in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. Although geographically within Simcoe County, the municipality is politically separate.
The city's north and south ends are separated by a deep valley which contains the historic downtown area along Kempenfelt Bay (off Lake Simcoe).
Barrie is located in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the most densely populated area of Canada. As of 2006, the city's population was 128,430 residents, The success of the concert contributed to the resistance to a plan to convert the concert area to a commercial district. However, the stage, buildings and many of the trees on site have been destroyed since construction of the Park Place commercial district has begun.
An explosion in the Royal Thai restaurant, housed in the landmark Wellington Hotel, at the historic Five Points intersection in Barrie's downtown core occurred at 11:20 PM on 6 December 2007. The fire quickly spread to several neighbouring buildings. Firefighters battled the blaze well into the following morning, requiring assistance from other Simcoe County fire services. Officials estimate the damages to be in the millions. The Wellington Hotel building collapsed. It was over one hundred years old. On 17 February 2008, two people were charged in connection with the fire, after the Ontario Fire Marshal's office concluded the explosion and fire were the result of arson.
Barrie's downtown is situated in a distinct curved or wrapped valley, surrounding the western edge of Kempenfelt Bay. Terrain is generally flat near the city's centre. Moving away from the downtown and up the valleys, the terrain can be rather steep in areas. Over the last few decades, the city has expanded its urban area beyond the confines of the valley, particularly to the south and south-east.
The Province of Ontario has enacted legislation that will enable Barrie to annex from the town of Innisfil as of January 1, 2010. The land in question extends south beyond 10th line west of the 10th Sideroad, and as far south as Lockhart Road on the east side of the 10th Sideroad. Innisfil retains the community of Stroud, but the community of St. Pauls will shift to Barrie.
The city does not have any major rivers within its limits, but does have numerous creeks and streams, most of which empty into Kempenfelt Bay.
In late spring and summer months, the Barrie area is well known for heavy thunderstorm activity and the occasional funnel cloud or tornado sighting.
In the winter months, the proximity to the Great Lakes moderates winter temperatures but also results in significant snowfall in the general area. Barrie is located along the southern edge of Ontario's snowbelt region, where lake-effect snow, primarily from Georgian Bay, falls throughout the winter. An average of 238 centimetres (95 inches) of snow falls annually, with at least 50% being lake-effect. The snowfall gradient is tight, therefore snowfall totals tend to be significantly higher just north of the city as compared with the south end.
Notwithstanding these major employers, the perception of Barrie is that it is a bedroom community for people who commute to Toronto, which is approximately 90 km south of Barrie. However, only 32% of the resident-employed labour force (17,040 persons/53,400 persons) actually commute out of Barrie for employment purposes. In addition to this, 28% of the resident-employed labour force (14,880 persons/53,400 persons) actually commute into Barrie for employment for a net out-commuting figure of only 4.26%(17,040 persons –14,880 persons]/(50,665 persons employed in Barrie)). Source: 2001 Census and City of Barrie Economic Development.
Tourism plays an important role in the local economy. Barrie's waterfront is at the heart of its tourism industry, with events like the Kempenfest arts and crafts festival attracting more than 300,000 people. Recreational activities include skiing at nearby Horseshoe Resort, Snow Valley, Mount St. Louis Moonstone, and Blue Mountain as well as boating in Kempenfelt Bay. The city also boasts several beaches including Minet's Point Beach, Johnsons Beach, The Gables, Tyndale Beach, and Centennial Beach. Barrie's waterfront is currently under heavy construction, with the relocation of several roadways to provide more greenspace and parkland along the lakeshore.
There are numerous winter recreation activities and facilities in the surrounding area, including skiing, snow tubing and snowboarding resorts, snowmobile trails and ice fishing.
Other arterials roads that carry traffic throughout the city include Mapleview Drive, Ferndale Drive, 10th Line, Big Bay Point Road, Huronia Road and Penatangushine Road (former Highway 11/400A Simcoe Road 93).
The 2006 census metropolitan area found that Barrie and surrounding area has 177,061 residents, which included the City of Barrie (128,430 residents) and its surrounding communities. With the surrounding communities' urban area, the city has 157,501 residents.
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |+Federal representation ! colspan=2 style="width: 130px"|Party ! style="width: 170px"| Member of Parliament ! style="width: 50px"| From ! style="width: 50px"| To ! style="width: 40px"| District |- |Conservative |Patrick Brown |January 23, 2006 |present |Barrie |}
{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |+Provincial representation ! colspan=2 style="width: 130px"|Party ! style="width: 170px"| Member of Provincial Parliament ! style="width: 50px"| From ! style="width: 50px"| To ! style="width: 40px"| District |- |Liberal |Aileen Carroll |October 10, 2007 |present |Barrie |}
Barrie is home to a number of live performance companies including Theatre by the Bay, Talk is Free Theatre and and the Huronia Symphony. Grove Park Home is the practice hall for On Stage Performance Group which performs in Cookstown. The Strolling Youth Players, and the Kempenfelt Community Players also all perform in Barrie. In addition, an annual live concert series is hosted by Georgian College. Barrie is home to many galleries and studios. A Studio tour in the Barrie, Orillia area takes place on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend every year. It is called the Images Studio Tour and has over 25 artists on average. The self guided tour allows people to visit artists in their working studio and see how the art is created while enjoying the beautiful fall colours driving through the two cities and the countryside. Potters, jewellers, painters, textile artists and fashion designers make up a few of the disciplines of the talents on display.
Barrie is also home to the MacLaren Art Centre, an innovative art gallery that supports the visual arts in Simcoe County. It inspired the "Art City" project, which has had many different large sculptures installed around the city. These can be found in parks and along the scenic waterfront. The MacLaren Art Centre is a large and beautiful building on Mulcaster Street in downtown Barrie. International and Canadian artists display in the three main galleries. A permanent collection of art is slowly growing, the Radio Cafe, a gift shop, film nights, speakers, theatre and many children's programs and community art projects are just a small part of the gallery's mandate. This gallery contributes overall to a vibrant arts community in the Barrie area with it leading edge arts. An August Rodin sculpture in bronze called "The Thinker" is housed permanently on the front gardens of the gallery. On Lakeshore Mews two galleries have opened recently: Gary Owen Gallery and Awkward Gallery. The Gary Owen Gallery specializes in local original art and Awkward Gallery opens its doors to all types of contemporary Canadian art. Lakeshore mews is quickly becoming a hub of galleries and studios in the downtown area.
Barrie's Downtown Community Theatre is located at the site of the former Scotiabank site at Five Points in downtown Barrie. The Downtown Theatre was renovated in Fall 2008 for interim use by community groups. Currently the Theatre is under construction and will be open in May 2011 with seating for up to 210 people. The Downtown Theatre will be the main venue for Theatre by the Bay and the Talk Is Free Theatre Company among all other community arts groups.
The Barrie Examiner, established in 1864, is one of Canada's oldest daily newspapers. It is distributed 6 days a week (Monday to Saturday) to paid subscribers and is also delivered to the remainder of the market each Thursday. It features coverage of local and national news, entertainment, weather, sports and local community events.
The Barrie Advance is a free newspaper established in 1983, delivered twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) to every residence in the city, Springwater Township, and parts of Oro-Medonte. The newspaper contains local news, classifieds, advertisements and flyers.
Barrie is also home to the Mariposa School of Skating which has trained many world-class figure skaters, including Brian Orser, Elvis Stojko and Jeff Buttle.
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