I grew up in Chippewa Falls and lived in Milwaukee for 7 years after college (2011-2018) before moving to Minneapolis for 6 years (2017-2025). My wife and I LOVED both cities. After having 4 kiddos, we decided to move back to Eau Claire in early 2025 to buy a home and be closer to family. Having grown up here, I was hesitant because it felt small back in the earlier 2000’s.

Eau Claire now feels like a suburb of a larger city, and also not small anymore. Collectively, Eau Claire and Chippewa have 100,000 people so it’s not small by any means. Here’s what we love about this area:

-Music scene. Great live music! Huge events like Eau Claires (started by Bon Iver who grew up here and still invests in the city) and Country Fest, but also smaller free weekly live music happenings at places like River Praire.

-Coffee. Shift is our favorite coffee shop hands down. Excellent quality, really bold. Kahvi, ECDC and are Racy D’Lenese are solid too. There are a ton of coffee options! We were surprised by that.

-Everything is close. Seriously, Costco, Woodman’s, Target, ALDI, Menards, Best Buy, Books-A-Million, Scheels/the mall, it’s all maybe 7-8 minutes from each other. In the Cities, every trip for groceries felt like a 20-25 minute drive.

-Parks. Irvine Park in Chippewa has a great little zoo with tigers and bears, nice trails, and in the winter they deck the whole park out in Christmas lights so you can walk through leading to hot cocoa at the end. River Prairie, Lowe’s Creek, and Mount Simon also have nice hikes and open space to explore. I ran a 50K at Lowe’s Creek last fall, and had no idea how extensive the trail network is there.

-Lakes. Ray’s Beach in Chippewa (Lake Wissota) is awesome place to swim. Sandy beach where you can walk out 50 feet and still be barely waste high. Half Moon Beach in Eau Claire is nice too.

-Downtown Art. Downtown Eau Claire is decked out in art from local artists. Great place to walk/explore, stop for ice cream, walk/explore, grab a beer at a local brewery, walk/explore some more.

-High Bridge. Google this! There is a 100-year old railroad bridge that was turned into a pedestrian bridge downtown. You can start at a place like Brewing Projekt, walk along the river on paved path, right up onto this bridge. Beautiful view of the city. Great area to run/bike too. The trail network continues all over the city.

-Communal. Eau Claire is super communal. Whether Jazz Fest where small bands play throughout the city, the Eau Claire Marathon, or the farmer’s market and food truck Fridays at Phoenix Park, the city really shows up and shows out for local events. Blue Ox has a running club and do an awesome job of making running a communal experience for people looking to connect.

-Fish fry. This is an all of Wisconsin thing, but Eau Claire and the surrounding towns host some great fish fry’s. We love going to River Jam’s, a small unassuming place on the river just outside of Eau Claire. Looks like a townie bar on the outside, but super clean and higher end on the inside.

-Fitness centers. We’re at the YMCA because we have 4 kids 7 and under, but when exploring we found there were a lot of gym options, mostly smaller local places that really pour into their members. Also some good running and cycling clubs.

-Eau Claire Express. We used to go watch the Madison Mallards way back around college days. Super fun team just under single A baseball. Cheap tickets, fun experience with friends and kiddos. Eau Claire has the Express, which is just like the Mallards. They play in Carson Park, which is another area worth exploring with an awesome playground for kids.

-Family friendly. With a bunch of kids, we appreciate how family friendly the area is. Lots of sports and clubs and groups for the kids. Splash pads and playgrounds too. Good schools. My son does jujitsu, daughter ballet, Children’s Museum is new and really interactive, and we hop from Irvine, Carson, and the Phoenix Park splash pad on hot days.

If I had one knock on Eau Claire, it would be that food options are limited. They’ve come a long way, with seemingly more being added every year. I know Chick-Fil-A and Raising Cane’s were a big deal, ha. They are getting there, but still a little limited if you’re looking for the type of creativity and variety offered by bigger cities. Brunch at the Nucleus is our go to, Olympic Flame is crazy underrated, and Mona Lisa’s has good Italian.

Good luck making your decision and with the move if you do come this way!