The neighborhood association's
desired boundaries.

People who live in the newly redeveloped North Barstow area in downtown Eau Claire now have a neighborhood to call their own – or, at least, a neighborhood association. The North River Fronts Neighborhood Association recently “closed a gap” in its geographic footprint, and now encompasses the quadrant of downtown bordered by the Eau Claire River on the south, Madison Street on the north, the Chippewa River on the west and North Dewey Street on the east. Residents, tenants, and property owners in that area – which includes the new apartment buildings next to Phoenix Park – are now de facto members of the neighborhood association.

When the boundaries of the neighborhood were drawn up in the early 1980s, the North Barstow area was excluded, likely because it was mostly commercial at the time. Until now, the association’s boundaries were limited to two noncontiguous areas: the residential neighborhood north of Madison Street, between the Chippewa River and the railroad tracks, and a residential pocket around Wisconsin and Galloway streets, between North Dewey and Banbury Place. Beth Martin, the neighborhood association’s president, said she recently began inquiring about the “gap” between the two areas. As it turns out, the most recent version of the neighborhood plan, prepared with the help of the city in 2004, recommended incorporating this no-man’s land into the association’s boundaries. After examining the group’s bylaws, Martin determined there was no reason not to include this area within the neighborhood. The revision will likely be formally added to the neighborhood plan when the document is revised in two or three years.

 Martin said the association will work to strike a balance between residents of the older and newer parts of the neighborhood. The next step for the association is to reach out to those living in the North Barstow area and to inform them that they are now association members by virtue of their addresses. To learn more about the association and its meetings, visit northriverfronts.com.