BARRIE - Whether Barrie likes it or not, it’s a student community – and as Georgian College expands, so does its impact: its economic impact and its social, day-to-day impact.
With just over 5,000 students when president Brian Tamblyn took the helm in 1999, the college now has more than 10,000. It’s growing steadily, and its new health and wellness centre is expected to add another 1,800 students. Once existing program space is renovated as programs move into the new $65-million building, there’ll be room for another 1,200 students.
“We’re certainly one of the fastest growing colleges, if not the fastest growing,” said Tamblyn.
And with the number of students comes a need for housing, although Tamblyn suspects that the two don’t grow exactly hand-in-hand. With Georgian’s broader program appeal, more Barrie and Simcoe County students are staying at home to study, while commuting to Georgian.
Seeing the college’s growth plans, Barrie put a push on to increase the amount and quality of student housing. Four years ago, Barrie issued its Georgian College Neighbourhood Strategy – which introduced incentives for new projects, as well as identified sites. The strategy also began targeting problem behaviours like noise, parking and neighbourhood standards infractions.
Five years ago, stories about drunken students smashing beer bottles as they ventured from party to party abounded. Noisy parties lasted all night and the squeal of tires punctured the daylight hours. There was an outcry for increased enforcement – of bylaws, liquor laws and building standards.
“Things have improved because the city and police have paid a lot of attention to noise and property standards. There are still lots of issues, but my sense is it’s getting better,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman. “The strategy is still pretty young.”
He said housing built specifically for the post-secondary market – with the first projects set to open next month ¬– sets standards for students, and because it increases competition, it increases quality of the overall housing stock for students who want to live near the college and other services.
Once a family area, the east end is now much younger, as students fill rooms and as former single-family homes are rented to students.
One landlord is Student Property Management’s Anna Moore, who hopes the city would enforce the standards it has set. More than anyone, she recognizes the need for safety, for rules everyone understands and for a bit of neighbourliness.
She calls the area ‘the student community’, and recognizes the need for better communication with neighbours – be they students, families or retirees.
“Let’s say I’m 70 and have a trunk full of groceries (to take in from the car). Most of these kids would be happy to help that lady out. They’re ordinary people, and so too are the neighbours,” she said.
She attempts to help tenants in the 16 houses she owns and/or manages understand the basics of living in a community: respect, communication and abiding by the bylaws (from noise to garbage). She’s creating a how-to pamphlet for students and for neighbours.
Barrie East End Homeowners Association (BEEHA) reports an improvement.
“We’ve seen an improvement in the behaviour of students overall. We don’t see the house parties with hundreds of students,” said BEEHA chair Colin Leonard. “There are still problems with (car) speed and traffic. It could be that there are fewer boneheads.”
Georgian Green residence manager Terry McFarlane noted students are more serious than they were five years ago likely because they see the value – and understand the cost – of a post-secondary education.
“Georgian is getting a better reputation,” he said, adding some of the programs are attracting more-serious students, who aren’t leaving home to party the year away but to learn.
Leonard added the college acknowledges education goes beyond the college campus. “They’re not saying there’s no problem, which was the battle five years ago,” he added.
Moore said the city needs to educate those who buy and convert houses to student rentals. The Student Property Management owner has been fighting for better standards for housing for the students, and like Leonard, wants to see absentee landlords, who don’t follow building and fire codes, leave town.
She remembers the day she learned firsthand about the standards, which she’d like to see others follow, too.
“A fire marshal came in and said, ‘You’re running a death trap.’ I did all the things a mother would do. I made it pretty,” she said.
So she sought to make them safe, too, which meant installing fire separations and doors, alarms, egresses and more. The $30,000 per house cost was worth it, she noted, because her tenants are “someone’s kid”.
“There was a landlord with seven houses and he asked me to manage them. I went inside, and said, ‘I can’t.’ I had to fight with him to get trash off the property. The electrical was a problem,” she recalled.
In a report to the city, she advocates for an ombudsman, a place where landlords and tenants can go to get zoning and neighbourhood standards addressed. The east end, she said, is a community with special needs. It all begins with respect, she stressed.
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