with files from Barrie 360
Barrie made the list of the top 25 best small cities in Canada.
According to a news release from the city, Resonance Consultancy ranked Barrie 17 out of 25 on their latest list of Canada’s Best Small Cities. Resonance is a leading global advisor on placemaking, branding and marketing for the world’s best cities, districts, developments and destinations.
“There’s a reason more than 150,000 people choose to call Barrie home, and it appears the secret is out,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall, in a statement. “We live in a beautiful place and our proximity to Toronto and Muskoka provides us with amazing advantages. Barrie is primed for success, and I look forward to seeing us climb even higher on this list in the years to come.”
Some of the reasons highlighted in the report that added to Barrie’s ranking include:
- Being an hour from the Toronto and Muskoka
- Many parks and green spaces
- Lake Simcoe and beaches
- Award-winning public square (Meridian Place) that provides a link between the waterfront and the historic downtown core
- Many great restaurants (#2-ranked restaurants in the country among small cities)
Victoria, Kelowna and Kingston rounded out the top three.
The ranking evaluates each qualifying city across the six pillars of place equity: Place, Product, Programming, People, Prosperity, and Promotion. To see the full list, visit https://www.bestcities.org/rankings/canada
