Barrhaven
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Barrhaven is a rapidly growing suburban neighbourhood located in the southwest corner of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, about 20 km (12 miles) southwest of downtown Ottawa. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa, Barrhaven was located in the city of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 52,197.
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[edit] Geography
Barrhaven is approximately bounded to the north by the Greenbelt, to the east by the Rideau River, to the west by Highway 416, and to the south by the southern shores of the Jock River. The area is diagonally bisected by the CN rail tracks. Barrhaven is surrounded by rural areas and farmland, with the exception of the growing Riverside South area across the Rideau River.
Barrhaven is divided into several areas: Barrhaven proper or Old Barrhaven is the westernmost part of the neighbourhood, lying between Cedarview Road and Greenbank Road. New residential development is expanding the west side of Old Barrhaven between Cedarview and Strandherd Drive. Also included in this area is a triangle of land east of Greenbank between Fallowfield Road and the railway tracks known as Knollsbrook or The Triangle. South of this is the area known as Longfields, which stretches south to Strandherd and east to Woodroffe Avenue. Sandwiched between the railway tracks, Jockvale Road, Greenbank and Strandherd is the neighbourhood of Barrhaven on the Green. East of Woodroffe, next to the Rideau River, is the neighbourhood of Davidson Heights. South of Strandherd and east of Greenbank is a new community known as Chapman Mills. As Prince of Wales Drive approaches Jockvale, there is a thriving community known as Stonebridge that is located beside the Stonebridge Golf & Country Club.
[edit] History
The Barrhaven area was long inhabited by First Nations peoples, and the modern Jockvale Road follows an ancient path that was originally a trail through the wilderness. In the 19th century the area became populated by European farmers as the area was divided into a number of rural homesteads.
In 1911, the Canadian Northern Railway built a rail line from Ottawa to Toronto through the area. Fast passenger service was offered for many years from Fallowfield Station (near the intersection of Strandherd Drive and Cedarview Road) to Ottawa and beyond[1] After many years of absence, passenger rail service was reintroduced to the area by VIA Rail in the fall of 2002 through the new Fallowfield Station (located at the intersection of Fallowfield Road and Woodroffe Avenue).
Modern Barrhaven was established in the 1960s, one of a group of new suburbs built across the Greenbelt from the main city of Ottawa. Building in the area was begun by Mel Barr, for whom the community is named. Barr had originally purchased a 200-acre (0.81 km²) farm intending to construct a horse racing track. However the Rideau Carleton Raceway was built further to the east, and Barr instead decided to build a new suburban subdivision.
It grew rapidly into a community housing several tens of thousands of people. Commercial centres were slower to arrive. In 1990 the area was served by a single grocery store, had no movie theatre, and not even a bar. Recently this has changed with the vast Barrhaven Town Centre complex of big box stores and smaller commercial establishments, as well as a few smaller shopping malls. The 1990s also saw a rapid influx of high-tech companies into the area (such as JDS Uniphase and Nortel), and the growth of the Public Service in the National Capital Region. The area also got its own high school in 1998 when Mother Teresa High School (Catholic) opened followed by John McCrae Secondary School (public) in 1999. Since then it has also gained St. Joseph High School, also of the Catholic board.
Barrhaven is also the site of the highly publicized murder of local teenager Jennifer Teague on September 8, 2005.
[edit] Character
Since Barrhaven has been built so quickly and so recently, like most North American suburbs, it has a very uniform feel considering how big it is. Almost every street consists of fairly large late 20th century style suburban houses. In the older parts of Barrhaven, the streets wind and turn, never forming a grid as they do in older parts of Ottawa. Barrhaven contains several Catholic and public schools, and numerous parks and playgrounds, mainly built in since 2000. It is also home to the Walter Baker Sports Centre which contains a library and other facilities.
As of late 2005, it features a seven-theatre cinema, and a power centre on Strandherd Drive featuring Wal-Mart, Staples, Winners, Sport Chek and Loblaws among others.
[edit] Transportation
Barrhaven is served by five local bus routes, routes 170,171,173, 176 and 186, Rapid Transit Route 95 (in the central portion during weekdays) and five express bus routes, routes 70, 71, 73, 76, and 77. These routes go in a general loop, turning on various local streets on their way to and from the nearby Fallowfield Station, and because of Barrhaven's seemingly random design it has caused much confusion with the local bus routes. The 186 runs from the Fallowfield Station to Manotick, stopping in the growing Stonebridge community before travelling on the lower half of Jockvale before hitting Prince of Wales Drive. The express bus routes follow roughly the same path as their local route equivalents, however also travel down the transitway and end at Hurdman Station.
Fallowfield is a VIA Rail station and the current end of the Nepean South leg of the transitway, although an extension to areas further south has been proposed for upcoming years. At Fallowfield Station there are two stops 1A and 2A. Both stops have buses that go to and from Barrhaven. It takes approximately 30 minutes, on route 95 Orleans, to get downtown from Fallowfield Station via Ottawa's OC Transpo.
Previously, it was planned that the O-Train north-south line would be extended to the centre of Barrhaven near Riocan Marketplace via Riverside South. The project was cancelled on December 14, 2006 by Ottawa City Council.
On January 2, 2007, OC Transpo opened the Strandherd Transitway Station and Park & Ride lot in Barrhaven. Directly across from the Riocan/Barrhaven Shopping Centre's Wal-Mart & TD Bank, the facility has space for about 330 cars. It was built to help with overcrowding at the Fallowfield Station and meet the increased demand for park and ride spaces in the community. The Province of Ontario funded one-third of the $5 million cost.
[edit] Education
[edit] Public
[edit] Elementary
- Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School
- Barrhaven Public School
- Berrigan Elementary School
- Farley Mowat Public School
- Jockvale Elementary School www.jockvale.com
- Mary Honeywell Elementary School
- Ecole Michaëlle Jean (French)
[edit] Intermediate
[edit] Secondary
[edit] Catholic
[edit] Elementary
- L'école élémentaire catholique Jean-Robert Gauthier (French)
- L'école élémentaire catholique Pierre Elliot Trudeau (French)
- Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic elementary school
- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic elementary school
- St. Emily Catholic elementary school
- St. Luke Catholic elementary school
- St. Patrick Catholic elementary school
- St. Andrew Catholic elementary school
[edit] Secondary
[edit] Neighbourhoods
Barrhaven is divided into many neighbourhoods. The names are generally selected by developers.
- Barrhaven, also known as Old Barrhaven
- Longfields, east of Greenbank Road, west of Woodroffe Avenue, south of Fallowfield Road and north of Strandherd Drive
- Davidson Heights, east of Woodroffe Avenue
- Chapman Mills, south of Strandherd and east of Greenbank
- Winding Way, east of Prince of Wales Drive
- Stonebridge, located between Jockvale Rd and Prince of Wales
- Half Moon Bay, approved new neighborhood west of Greenbank, east of Highway 416, south of the Jock River and north of Barnsdale Road
- Barrhaven Mews, new community under construction between Strandherd Road and the Jock River and west of Jockvale/Greenbank Roads
- Barrhaven On The Green, located between Jockvale Road, Greenbank Road, Strandherd Road, and the Rail tracks
[edit] References
- ^ Desmond Kennedy. "Coming of the Rail Era" The Kennedy Story (transcribed by Taylor Kennedy) Accessed July 3, 2007.
- Melanie O'Brien. "Thriving beyond the greenbelt: Barrhaven growing rapidly as buyers look for a sense of community." The Ottawa Citizen. Jun 29, 1996. p. J.1
- Janet Collins. "The Far Haven: Barrhaven" The Ottawa Citizen. Feb 1, 1993. p. B.3
- Carrie Buchanan. "A sleeping suburb; Barrhaven's nothing but a bedroom community." The Ottawa Citizen. Oct 29, 1989. p. D.1
