Opening Letters

10 National Development Trends Found in Downtown Eau Claire

an urban development expert outlined 10 downtown trends, and you can see all of them in Eau Claire

Tom Giffey, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

From where we sit, the redevelopment of downtown Eau Claire looks like it’s on the path toward success. Cranes crisscross the sky, new buildings are rising, old ones are being rehabilitated, and government and private leaders and the public at large are pulling toward the common goal of cementing the center of our city in the center of our cultural consciousness.

But don’t take our word for it: Consider the insight of Austin, Texas-based urban planner John Karras, who delivered a handful of presentations in Eau Claire in late February. Karras – who works as an economic development consultant and founded urbanSCALE.com, a tool for measuring the vibrancy of cities – was invited to town by Downtown Eau Claire Inc. During remarks at DECI’s annual awards ceremony as well as at the Volume One Gallery, Karras outlined the top 10 trends he saw impacting downtowns across the United States.

A decade or so ago, examining a list like that from a big-city urban planner might have caused Eau Clairians to shake their heads in frustration at how far our downtown would have to travel to rise out of the doldrums. Today, we can take pride in the fact that, in one way or another, the multifaceted growth in our downtown neatly matches nearly every trend on Karras’ list. Here’s the rundown, with explanations about how Eau Claire is well on its way to meeting so many of these transformational goals.

1. Urbanization across the U.S.

This is a very broad trend, to be sure, but it’s certainly been evident in the city of Eau Claire, where the population has grown more quickly in recent years than it has in both Eau Claire County and the state as a whole. Generally speaking, it seems that 21st century Americans – including those in Eau Claire – are more likely to want to live in cities than they were a few decades ago.

2. Downtown residential growth

Likewise, downtown Eau Claire’s population is booming (or at least is undergoing a boomlet). According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the downtown population grew 25 percent between 2000 and 2010, nearly four times faster than the city’s overall growth. And since the last census, scores of additional apartments have been added downtown, with even more coming online this year when the student-oriented Haymarket Landing opens. Look for even bigger gains with the 2020 census.

3. Public sector leadership

Almost to a person, members of the City Council (from President Kerry Kincaid on down) and as well as the city administration (including current City Manager Dale Peters and former managers Russ Van Gompel and Mike Huggins) have been vocal backers of downtown redevelopment. From the early 2000s decision to create Phoenix Park on a disused industrial site to the more recent backing of the Confluence Project to the extensive use of Tax Incremental Financing Districts to help create new projects, our elected and hired leaders have worked unceasingly to revive downtown – and it’s working.

4. Private sector leadership

Meanwhile, a broad swathe of the private sector – including business leaders and city residents in general – has shown leadership as well. Royal Credit Union’s decision to build its headquarters downtown was a crucial first step. Since then we’ve seen businesses and developers including Moeding Partners, Commonweal Development, John Mogensen, JAMF Software – and dozens of others who have pursued projects large and small – looking beyond short-term gains toward long-term, community-building strategies. Perhaps most impressively, much of this growth happened against the backdrop of the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

5. Leveraging higher education

Under the leadership of Chancellor James Schmidt and his predecessors, UW-Eau Claire has become much more outward-focused, seeking out ways to collaborate with the community beyond campus. Chief among these efforts has been the Confluence Project, a performing arts center to be shared by the university and community. Once the Confluence opens downtown in 2018, hundreds of UWEC performing arts students will be living, rehearsing, and performing downtown, bringing even more vitality to the neighborhood. Combined with the privately built student housing in the Haymarket Landing next door, in many ways this all amounts to a downtown satellite campus – a known strategy for improving a downtown.

6. Utilizing rivers and waterfront

At some point in the past couple decades a massive “Whack!” echoed through the Chippewa Valley as civic leaders and residents alike slapped their foreheads upon realizing that downtown Eau Claire’s two rivers were assets, not inconveniences. Since then, Phoenix Park has been built at the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers; riverside biking and walking trails have been created; the “High Bridge” has been opened to pedestrians and bikers; tubing has taken off as a summertime recreational mainstay; talk of river-facing restaurants and businesses has flourished; and local leaders have began plans for a “signature event” in 2017 to celebrate the rivers. All that’s pretty good for a city that once used its rivers as little more than sewers.

7. Craft brewing sector

Anyone who’s been near a grocery store refrigerator section in the past few years knows that craft brewing is big trend as upstart brews compete for space with the suds from giants such as MillerCoors and Budweiser. This being Wisconsin, we’re not far behind: In the past year, downtown Eau Claire has sprouted two vibrant craft breweries, the Brewing Projekt (which hopes to move to a newer, bigger downtown space soon) and Lazy Monk (which moved from Banbury Place to a downtown riverside location recently). Both spots have quickly become hotbeds of social activity, as well hosts to community meetings about the future of their neighborhoods.

8. Festivalization

In addition to the aforementioned river-focused festival, which partners such as Visit Eau Claire have been contemplating, downtown Eau Claire is host to numerous other annual events, including the International Fall Festival, Summer Fest, A Grand Evening on the Bridge, Let It Glow, and more. Annual events are great, but we’ve seen a handful of weekly events become full-blown regular festivals of their own. Saturdays host the Downtown Eau Claire Farmers Market, Thursdays see Volume One’s Sounds Like Summer Concert Series, and Tuesday Night Blues packs them in, too. Thousands of people attend these and other events weekly for local food, music, and more, and many of these folks embrace the opportunity to visit nearby retailers, restaurants, and watering holes before and after the main attraction.

9. The tech sector

Eau Claire native and UWEC grad Zach Halmstad made a point of building the largest office of his global software company, JAMF Software, in downtown Eau Claire, where the company employs 200 people. Halmstad, along with other local partners, also has put his money where his mouth is by investing in the transformation of two downtown hotels, The Lismore and The Oxbow, both slated to open later this year. Meanwhile, other tech and design-focused firms, including the likes of JB Systems, Draft Design House, Hoops Inc., Entropy Multimedia, and others also make their home downtown. However, there’s always room for more.

10. Coworking

The idea of independent, mobile workers choosing to rub shoulders in a shared office space instead of laboring over laptops alone in their own living rooms or coffee shops is still a bit new in Eau Claire. It is, however, poised to gain steam as it has in many larger markets around the globe. That’s because in 2012 downtown Eau Claire saw the opening of its first true coworking space right here at the Volume One World Headquarters. It’s called WorkSpace, and it offers a slew of shared benefits to regular members and drop-in users. However, WorkSpace was just meant to bring the concept to this community and get the ball rolling, as hopefully more and bigger co-working spaces will be on the horizon in years to come.

To review: There’s clear evidence that all 10 of these national trends are at work right here in downtown Eau Claire, and many can be found nearby in Chippewa Falls and Menomonie as well. While there’s always more to do to build a vibrant and vital community, we can all feel proud that we’re hitting 10-for-10. That’s not bad for a downtown many shortsighted citizens had written off little more than a decade ago.