Barrhaven is a great place to live
Re: Barrhaven is no longer the jewel of Ottawa suburbs, Aug. 31.
We have been reflecting on Charlie Senack's article criticizing Barrhaven. We disagree with his conclusion that no one wants to live here anymore and that houses are not selling well.
We have lived in Barrhaven for 46 years, as have many others, and in recent years we live in Stonebridge.
Houses certainly are selling, albeit not as quickly as two years ago when interest rates were rock-bottom. His comments certainly will not help Barrhaven's housing market.
We are also aware of individuals who moved out of the Barrhaven area to rural areas and smaller towns during COVID, who would like to move back to Barrhaven but can't afford to.
Barrhaven does have transit woes and Greenbank Road needs to be realigned. Other areas of the city have transit woes as well.
We agree that Sprung shelters are not in the best interest of refugees coming to Ottawa, but we are confident that more suitable permanent housing will be the solution in the end.
Crime is up everywhere in the city, not only in Barrhaven.
We have two excellent councillors, David Hill and Wilson Lo, who work tirelessly to make Barrhaven the wonderful place it is.
We love Barrhaven: it is where we raised our family, who still live and work here.
We have a tremendous social network, which we have maintained over the years.
We have all the amenities that a 15-minute city would wish to have, and find ourselves seldom having to leave the community for purchases or dining.
We wish Charlie all the very best in his new home in Alta Vista.
David and Marion Rattray, Barrhaven
We love Barrhaven: it is where we raised our family, who still live and work here .... We have all the amenities that a 15-minute city would wish to have, and find ourselves seldom having to leave the community for purchases or dining. David and Marion Rattray