Any "Bad" areas in Eau Claire?

[Eau Claire Resident]

Eau Claire has many good areas. The north side and west sides generally offer more home for your dollar. If you tested the top 25 percent of North and Memorial students, you would fine similar scores. North has more students from lower/middle income and a higher proportion of minority students. North also has historically had better girls' sports teams.

A number of home school families have chosen the local private schools because of the emphasis on morales/values and high academic standards.

[Alexis03]

If you are moving to Eau Claire I would recommend looking into housing just out of the city limits. You get a country feel and a lot more privacy...You also get more $$ for your house. The northside is a sort of not a bad neighborhood but its not really good either. Houses there are expensive and they are not worth the $$ you pay for them.... the bigger houses are more centrally located in the "old" downtown area. You can find older historical homes there and sometimes they are cheaper than the newer ones. If you stay on the outter edge of the area circle the kids dont bother you. Plus they are close to the newer schools and they would be in Memorial's range. Most kids there that are their age to play with.

[stellar9]

Originally Posted by Alexis03

If you are moving to Eau Claire I would recommend looking into housing just out of the city limits. You get a country feel and a lot more privacy...You also get more $$ for your house. The northside is a sort of not a bad neighborhood but its not really good either. Houses there are expensive and they are not worth the $$ you pay for them.... the bigger houses are more centrally located in the "old" downtown area. You can find older historical homes there and sometimes they are cheaper than the newer ones. If you stay on the outer edge of the area circle the kids dont bother you. Plus they are close to the newer schools and they would be in Memorial's range. Most kids there that are their age to play with.

Thanks for your response. It looks like we'll be heading to EC in November. We'll be renting first. Excuse me for being obtuse, but the part you wrote that I bolded confuses me. The outer edge of which area circle are you referring to?
If we live just outside the city limits, will we still have access to city buses and close proximity to stores and such? My dh would love to live out in the country but my teens want to be able to use public transportation.

[Alexis03]

I mean the outter circle of downtown. Try looking for houses on more of the south side like lowes creek road area. If you are close enough you can walk to a stop. You would also be closer to the mall, walmart, video store...etc...

[stellar9]

Thanks for clarifying. I'll check that area out.

[Trabbz]

Let me clear some things up from someone who lived in Eau Claire for 20 years and now resides in the high crime metro area of Tampa-Clearwater-St. Pete, Florida. Eau Claire is consistantly rated one of the safest metro areas in the country. Eau Claire residents will constantly complain about how bad their city is getting with crime but let me assure you, the crime rate has actually dropped in recent years. Obviously this is a good thing but I am not sure what sets Eau Claire apart from everywhere else. About the biggest thing you will ever have to worry about in Eau Claire are property crimes, and petty thefts. These types of crimes happen anywhere you live in the city and no neighborhood is immune to them. I must admit, there are a lot of drugs in the city and Eau Claire residents are generally very unaware of the true problem. This is really not suprising as Eau Claire sits right on the I-94 corridor which traffics drugs between Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. I would bet that the few crimes that happen in Eau Claire may be directly related to drugs. Eau Claire is not a big enough city to call one specific neighboorhood a haven for drug activity. The most notorious neighborhood for this type of activity is Birch St and just north of downtown near Bellenger St. Someone earlier posted a racially based comment about "hmong gangs" in Eau Claire. There is no more of a problem with "hmong gangs" in Eau Claire as there are any other type of gang. An incident or two has happened over the years but generally they are a very quiet population that will never give you a problem. I can assure you that the chances of being victim to a "hmong gang" incident is next to nonexistant and not even worth mentioning. You may as will stand in a lightning storm with an umbrella because you are more likely to get struck by lightning. I just love the attitude of people in Eau Claire. If you think that Eau Claire is bad, move the any other city in the US because you will have a better chance of falling victim to crime. In conclusion, the ONLY area I would really stay away from if you have a family is anywhere in the vicinity of Water/Niagara/Chippewa Streets where the college crowd tends to live.

[kbleeke]

there isnt no crime in eau claire
all u should come see milwaukee for a change