It's been over a year since I put up this blog. I've changed so much since then. Soon after I made this blog, I moved far away. In that time, this blog has been featured on a radio station, ready by many, and received quite a few comments - both pro and against Barrie. You may have seen me come across as a very bitter person. And I was. Living in Barrie was just not the right thing for me to do and I got more and more miserable by the day. I had the choice of making the best of it, or moving away. I chose the latter. A change of scenery was the easiest way for me to start thinking positively.
I don't want to dwell on it, because I've moved on and don't want to complain anymore, but this update needs to be written. Some people have found Barrie to be the answer to their dreams. For me, it was one of my worst nightmares! It was so nice to finally leave Barrie. I can only hope my parents decide to move away too. I know they're not totally in love with the city, but they don't dislike it as much as I do. We aren't even from Barrie, so there's no reason to stay.
So to all who took offence to my opinions, Peace. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. This is way more of a controversial subject than I could have ever imagined. In the past year, I've learned to relax and not be so hateful. The Secret (recommended to me by friends and strangers alike) was just the beginning. I knew all that stuff before, but Barrie was not the right environment for me to act upon it. Even my writing style has changed over the past year. I don't take back anything I said about Barrie, and I'm glad I got that opportunity to vent. But, now that I've said it, I've moved on and won't complain about Barrie. Life is too short to quibble about such things.
Let's just say that Barrie is not for everyone. Over the past year, people have posted both positive and negative comments about the city. I'm leaving this blog up so that others may read it. For some, it may reinforce their love of the city, or make them want to move to Barrie, or reconsider it. For others, it may be a feeling of relief to know that there are others who share their dislike of the city. You can't force someone to like a place.
Peace. (wherever you may be living, be it in Barrie or elsewhere)! :)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
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4 comments:
Hey Peter
Is it only the weather that drives you nuts ? What about the other 9 months? I live in Edmonton so snow is not too bad but Cool weather starts in October and doesn't warm up till May ( late !!) . I grew up in TO and the weather here is driving me nuts. I am looking to move back . TO ,Mississauga are too expensive and busy. I was thinking of Barrie. I will love the shorter winter. What is day to day life like. Good emenities, shopping , recreation? I like the fact it's a hour to TO and Georgian Bay. We have no real lakes out here , just sloughs!!.
Look forward to the response. Remember no matter how bad you have it , someone has it worse !
Hey Steve,
Yes, that's a good point - no matter how bad you have it, someone else has it worse. For someone who hates cold weather, I could have been living in Winnipeg, Moosonee or Alaska.
I found that in Barrie, by October, it would start to get cold (though not usually any snow), but November is fair game for snow. Even in April, snow can still fall. I came for a visit to see my parents in early June and there was still some piles of snow in mall parking lots that hadn't completely melted! The way I see it, there's only about 3 or 4 nice months for weather in Barrie - although it can get pretty darned hot and humid in the summer. But, that's much better than cold and snow! So, you may find that the weather in Barrie is similar to Edmonton, by the sounds of it. Although, you will certainly have lots of lakes, if that's what you like. Myself, I prefer the ocean.
Another thing to keep in mind is that not all people like the same thing. It always frustrated me when people would try to "correct" me and tell my why Barrie was so good. What they found a positive point, I didn't.
Barrie does have a lot of shopping and amenities, but it has an identity crisis. It has outgrown its "small town" feel and doesn't have a true suburban or big city feel. It has no class either. I think it's the worst of all worlds with too many personality types from too many places trying to live together. Some people there get along great, so if they like it in Barrie, then more power to them!
Toronto and Mississauga may be expensive and busy, but at least they're not in a snow belt. If you're used to those cities, you may not like Barrie. There are lots of other great cities outside of the GTA and outside of Onterrible (oops, I mean Ontario). Sometimes I think the motto for Ontario should be "You Can't Do That." I've found BC and Quebec to be much more positive places.
Since Barrie has grown so much and been in the news for many things (some good, some not so good), and the fact that's about an hour from Toronto, many people think it's an ideal city to live in. Well, you won't get nice small town country life, nor a classy urban feel. The one hour drive to Toronto for better paying jobs and shopping can become a real drag after a while. Your personality type may not mesh with the hodge-podge of distinctly Barrie personalities. I've never been in a city where I disliked so many people. Granted, there were a few nice people, but for the most part, they were not and I was never so glad to leave a city!
To sum it up, the winter is cold and long, the city has no class, it's boring, there are many back stabbing, stuck up, undesirable people and the opportunity to make money (whether self-employed or as an employee) is not that great. Most people can't handle the long commute to Toronto for long and either take a lower paying job in Barrie or move to Toronto.
Good luck, Steve, wherever you move!
Hi,
I wished I had found your blog a year earlier when it was more active! Do you still read the comment sections? I hope so.
I am too a Barrie resident and congratulate you on getting away from this place! I, like you have issues with such a place called Barre. The 10 reasons did do a nice job but I can go further.
The politics in Barrie is awful. Where you would think that the way we claim our democracy works they would at least hear from us. This is not the case. As your friend already pointed out Barrie is in the "business" of chasing away business. In 08-09 We have lost a few factories and a minority of "Barrie residents" are chasing away good jobs that a plant wants to bring here! Big box stores. Its not good enough to have an over priced rude customer service low wage paying job as a big box store brings but how about even MORE of them!! Thats in a DEPRESSION too!!!
As much as I hate to post this as I feel that not everyone in Barrie is bad. I still believe that there are good people in Barrie like anywhere else. However stating that. There are too many lairs, cheaters, lazy and absolutly dull people in Barrie. From people cheating on their marriage to people suing other people for whatever reason! The tall tales that a local would spin sometimes makes fairy tales all the more real.
I can live with the weather. I have no problem with that.
But the corruption, murders, beatings etc I cannot. From the Barrie police to the Mayor!
The blame game of the user. Or resident. We get tax hikes after tax hikes. No jobs no security. What does Barrie do. Chase away good green jobs such as wind power and ethanol! But lowers the amount you can dump forcing up illegal garbage dumping! So much for this city being green. They talk about conservation. I conserve like mad! Guess what they do. If your electricity bills start dropping then they RAISE the rates. You might as well waste power.
Its endless. Needless to say. I'm a guy thats stuck here so I just wanted to get that stuff off my chest. I hope you do not mind.
I love your blog and thank you for creating it. Believe it or not. You are not the voice of the minority. But or the majority and I couldn't agree more with what you wrote!
Glad you enjoyed the blog!
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