Known as the suburban capital of Ottawa, Barrhaven is located 20 minutes southwest of Ottawa. This area was completely consumed by Ottawa real estate developers, and most of the neighborhoods have houses that look very similar. The neighborhoods are very clean, and mostly middle to upper class.

There are plenty of shopping areas, entertainment and other amenities available in Barrhaven. The street layout isn’t the best, making it a tricky area to find your way around. Public transportation from this area is quite good, however, and it’s easy to get to downtown by bus.

Traffic is a bit of a problem during rush hour – specifically in the mornings going downtown, and in the afternoon getting back to Barrhaven.

One common complaint about Barrhaven is that some corners were cut in the construction process. Often, when a huge construction company builds an entire neighborhood, small changes in construction materials can mean huge increases in profits for these companies. Since most home buyers can’t see between the walls and under the floors, we really have no idea what corners where cut in the construction process. Over the years, there have been reports of some mass-produced housing projects having problems requiring repairs earlier than would be expected for new construction.

One way to avoid these problems when moving to Barrhaven is to do research on the company that built the home you’re thinking of buying, and then look online to see if other people have reported problems with homes built by the same company.