1st Place: Stymie the jail expansion
2nd Place: Blues series in Owen Park
3rd Place: The Livery

There are a ridiculous number of good ideas shooting around these parts, so inevitably some of them make the jump from idea to awesome happening in just a year. In a tremendous community effort, a proposal to expand the current jail was stymied in a way that reminded everyone that if enough people speak their mind they can protect large tracts of beautiful river banks and cool old neighborhoods. Speaking of rivers, Owen Park’s bandshell has been graced each Tuesday night by the soulful sounds of some of the Valley’s best blues musicians. Breaking the river-related trend was the opening of The Livery in one of downtown Eau Claire’s lovely historic buildings. If a town can turn a former horse rentery into a successful restaurant, I’m pretty sure it can do anything. – Aryn Widule