Intensification creates lifestyle and choice, City planners tell Barrie council

“When you put all the technical aspects into intensification, in the end what you really get is a lifestyle. Intensification creates a different lifestyle–different places for us to work, different places for us to live, and it really is changing the face of Barrie.” – Michelle Banfield

When it comes to intensification in the City of Barrie, it’s not a question of if, it’s a matter of where, when and how.

Barrie is designated as a place to grow under the province’s A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which set growth and density targets for identified regions like Barrie, Brantford, Guelph, Hamilton, and other municipalities.

“Municipalities in the greater Golden Horseshoe growth plan are required to plan to meet those targets. But it’s not just about meeting those targets. It’s about where and how we should grow. It’s about how we need appropriate infrastructure to support the growth,” Andrea Miller, general manager of infrastructure and growth management, told councillors recently during a presentation at city hall to review the City’s approach to intensification.

Under the provincial growth plan, Barrie is forecast to grow by an additional 107,000 people by 2041, bringing the number of people calling Barrie home to a forecast of 253,000. The city is also supposed to have another 53,900 jobs to employ all those newcomers.

Michelle Banfield, the City’s planning and building director, told council the presentation, titled Planning Barrie’s Future – Today, was crafted to answer a question: What’s UP with Intensification?

“Happy to be here to talk about a question I get asked a lot: what’s up with intensification? We are planning for the growth of people and jobs to 2041. If Barrie itself isn’t getting bigger, then how are these people and jobs going to be accommodated? And the answer is through intensification.”

So, what is intensification?

“Fundamentally it’s just putting more people and jobs in a community that currently exists. Planners talk about it as a term of density, but ultimately it happens through redevelopment, infill and all sorts of different ways,” said Banfield, adding intensification is important to Barrie for a number of reasons, such as:

• It allows for a more efficient use of land. “And as we use land that is appropriate for development, and as we use it to its fullest potential, it allows us to accommodate these people and jobs and reduce development pressures on our environmental lands.”
• It permits a more compact urban form “which just makes it easier for us to access our daily needs.”
• And ultimately, it provides more choice in living, recreation, and places to work, she said.

“Municipalities in the greater Golden Horseshoe growth plan are required to plan to meet those targets. But it’s not just about meeting targets. It’s about where and how we should grow. It’s about how we need appropriate infrastructure to support the growth.”

The provincially mandated growth and density targets tie into the City’s master plans, and those master plans not only support the official plan, but also support the timing and cost of the development and the infrastructure needed to support growth, she continued. The master plans are used for background study on development charges, providing estimates for appropriate fees. And, Banfield told council, they contribute to best assumptions of how, where and when development is going to happen.

“When you put all the technical aspects into intensification, in the end what you really get is a lifestyle. Intensification creates a different lifestyle–different places for us to work, different places for us to live, and it really is changing the face of Barrie.”

Intensification can take different forms, from a second suite in a detached home, to a low-rise housing complex or a high-rise development, she said, adding “intensification tends to be concentrated around strategic growth areas, or along corridors, and you see it transition quickly to adjacent neighbourhoods Ultimately, intensification is truly going to transition our built form.”

That doesn’t mean out with the old and in with the new, as Banfield said there is room for both as Barrie sees intensification. “Strong urban design is something we hear about a lot. Ultimately, intensification is going to allow for a mix in land use, all in close proximity and easily accessible.”

The presentation included a reference to what planners call a complete community. Ward 2 Councillor Keenan Aylwin asked what that meant.

“It’s not just about the physical side. It’s about programming, about public art, social connections, and access to health care that make a community complete. But … we start with the things on the ground and then we work to put it all together,” said Miller.