[flar]

Barrhaven is a suburb of Ottawa.



BARRHAVEN

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[androiduk]

Thanks for the tour flar. Pretty standard suburban stuff except for those attractive townhomes in pic #67.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Barrhaven: Beyond Ottawa's Greenbelt...a new suburban community....

Thanks for the tour flar. Pretty standard suburban stuff except for those attractive townhomes in pic #67.

Andriod: I will agree with that...it was the most interesting architecture in this set...

Flar: This is an interesting group of pics of an outer suburban area of Ottawa...

Most of the housing looks like somewhat high density...but are amenities such as shopping centers within walking distance or is it auto-dependent sprawl?
There weren't that many sidewalks...

Are there any newer suburban developments that can be considered transit oriented
or have amenities that are within walking distance?

I noticed an OC Transport bus...how much mass transit serves this area?

I find the older urban areas much more interesting...and livable...LI MIKE

 

[flar]

I don't really know what the point of Barrhaven is. It's very high density, many of the new homes are attached housing, no yards, stupid winding roads that don't connect, etc. You don't get the benefits of living in the suburbs (like a single detached home with a big yard and privacy) but you still have the negatives (car dependence, far from everything, long commute). I think people only move there because it is slightly more affordable than established neighbourhoods inside the Greenbelt.

OCTranspo has ramped up service to Barrhaven, extending the bus rapid transit and adding local feeder routes. A lot of people commute into central Ottawa and Gatineau despite the hour+ bus ride. This is more due to necessity (expense of driving, lack of parking and traffic capacity) than a will to take transit. For everything but commuting, you need a car. Until fairly recently, there was barely any shopping in Barrhaven. Now there is a large big box complex.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Yeah, the "big house with a big yard" trope doesn't really apply to the suburbs of Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary or Vancouver. It's all about affordability and how you can't afford to raise a family with more than 1 kid anywhere else, plus the fact that at least one of the spouse's jobs is in some completely car-dependent office park, so living downtown would be a commuting hassle on top of being unaffordable.

 

[flar]

Yeah, the "big house with a big yard" trope doesn't really apply to the suburbs of Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary or Vancouver. It's all about affordability and how you can't afford to raise a family with more than 1 kid anywhere else, plus the fact that at least one of the spouse's jobs is in some completely car-dependent office park, so living downtown would be a commuting hassle on top of being unaffordable.

Yeah, that point about one spouse working downtown and one working in the burbs applies to a lot of families. I think the small lot/attached housing goes beyond price pressure too. A lot of developers are saying townhouses with postage stamp lawns are "new urbanism" and transit friendly design. The reality is they are packing more homes into a smaller area to make more money per acre. This is happening even in cities without price pressure, like Hamilton, where I recall some developers fighting with the city over the minimum setback for houses up in Ancaster.

 

[junctionist]

Many people like urban living and want city-like suburbs. They look for housing that's cheaper, (slightly) bigger, and in better condition than established urban neighbourhoods, but in communities that are meant to function like older city neighbourhoods. The developers rarely, if ever, design communities that have the potential to work that way in the future. However, it's safe to say that it's a compelling community-building vision.