Editor's Notes

Note from the Editor | March 20, 2014

Nick Meyer |

We talk a lot in big, sweeping community terms in Volume One – usually about and for the broader population and readership. But right now I’m going to get personal. I know you’re sick of hearing/talking/reading about the Confluence Project. Believe me, so am I. But this is our last issue before the big vote on April 1, so right now I’m making a personal appeal for you to get yourself and 10 of your closest friends into the booth that day to vote YES on the County’s positive investment, and NO on the City’s negative and forced referendums. We’ve gone over all the obviously beneficial reasons why it’s good for us all dozens of times – but in addition to those, I want to give you my own.

In a way it all boils down to this: I desperately want my kid to be raised in the type of community that can make this project happen. I want him to love this place. To know that we can work together to create great things. And I want him to know that everything I spent my entire career in this community trying to build wasn’t for nothing. That when I spent years fighting against the old local refrains – there’s nothing to do here / that sort of thing won’t work here / but that’s the way it’s always been – that I, along with a groundswell of thousands of others, were victorious. Not only once, but repeatedly, across many years of momentum and growth.

In a way, the Confluence Project feels like a microcosm of everything I want for this community and for my son. Public plazas, rivers, and trails. Quality arts, culture, and experiences. Vital businesses, economic growth, and a financially strong community. It can all be there downtown where our rivers meet, radiating out for us all to enjoy. And for him to fall in love with.

I can’t help but think you and your kids, or your future kids, or your grandkids might want the same things. That’s what we mean when we talk about quality of life, or quality of place. It’s about amazing, everyday experiences for you, your family, and your friends. These things are critical to our social, economic, and cultural well being. They are our way of life in Eau Claire. So let’s keep investing there – because it will continue to pay off in more ways than we can even imagine.