BIA launches campaign to promote ‘urban experiences’ in Barrhaven

By Charlie SenaCk

The Barrhaven Business Improvement association (BIA) has officially launched a new campaign designed to bring urban experiences to the suburbs.

On June 17, four eightfoot tall hearts were unveiled across Barrhaven, with the kickoff held at Boston Pizza on Greenbank Rd. The red metal structures were created to be a backdrop for people to take photos, much like the Ottawa sign in the ByWard Market.

The BIA has wrapped 20 traffic control boxes around the community with four designs produced by a local art- ist. They are designed to represent the various businesses which make up the community: eat, shop, live and play.

Barrhaven t-shirts were also unveiled with proceeds raised going to support the Barrhaven Food Cupboard, which has seen an almost 50 per cent increase in calls for service this year. More than $1,600 has been raised to date.

The event was attended by Barrhaven councillors Wilson Lo and David Hill, alongside Nepean MP Chandra Arya, Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod, and MOVE radio host Stuntman Stu.

The “I heart Barrhaven” campaign first got its footing a few years ago when the lo- cal BIA was the first suburban group to introduce banners to the streetscape. Over 100 are placed around the community with 40 more to be installed this summer.

“We are no longer a sleepy suburb and we are excited to bring urban style installations to our community to add a sense of pride and excitement,” said Crystal Logan, Barrhaven BIA’s marketing director. “We like to be leaders and are working to re-invent what it means to be a suburb and this was a large motivation in our new place-making initiatives.”

The Barrhaven BIA says they started to notice a positive shift in community pride when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Residents were spending more time at home and the local businesses saw a boost in service.

“For years we were a bedroom community where businesses thrived Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday. But now they have a steady seven days a week stream of customers,” said Andrea Steenbakkers, Barrhaven BIA executive director.

Revitalizing the suburbs

Looking ahead to the future, the BIA is continuing to reimagine a new pathway forward for Barrhaven. The community has hit 100,000 residents and is one of the fastest growing suburbs in Ontario.

Last year all three levels of government committed funding for a new Barrhaven downtown, which could include a new civic building, performing arts center, library, outdoor plaza, apartments, and shops. The land located behind Marketplace is expected to be acquired within the next few months.

Steenbakkers said as demographics in the community are changing, they would like to bring a Lansdowne feel to Barrhaven. The BIA wants to brand Barrhaven as a “selfsustaining community”, she said, which means rethinking public spaces.

“We have towers going up in the Marketplace area and with that it’s changing the demographic. It’s allowing empty nesters to sell their four or five bedroom family home and it’s offering smaller space for people who are buying their first home or are young professionals who don’t have kids yet,” Steenbakkers said.

“With that we are trying to attract events that are happening in other areas. We want to sponsor them to come and host their events in Barrhaven,” she added. “We have the space, we have the population, we have the attitude and a BIA that can help with logistics.”

As Barrhaven continues to grow out, newer communities such as Half Moon Bay are sprawling with residential developments. The City of Ottawa has recently received applications to bring commercial retail development to that side of the Jock River, including two groceries stores. Barrhaven West city councillor David Hill expects shovels to be in the ground by the end of year.

Barrhaven East councillor Wilson Lo said the changing retail landscape means residents no longer need to travel to Merivale Rd to access services. With more people staying in the community, his focus has been on ensuring its infrastructure has kept up with the growth.

As a supporter of remote and hybrid work options, Lo said it can’t be up to suburban residents to support downtown businesses. He’d like to see federal office complexes converted to revitalize the downtown core.

“I don’t think we should be responsible for supporting downtown businesses. I think downtown residents should support downtown businesses just like how Barrhaven supports Barrhaven and Kanata supports Kanata,” said Lo. “Downtown needs to support itself. It can’t rely on people who don’t want to be there.”

Part of that change, Lo said, is having more people live downtown.

“It can’t just be a residential building, a commercial building, or an office building. It needs to be a mixed space,” he said. “You can have shops on the ground floor — the first few floors even — and a shared work space above. Residents can then make the upper floors.”