From KCMO, considering a move to Eau Claire... (Milwaukee, Madison: rent, crime)

[whoiswes]

Hello all,

Been lurking for a few weeks now, decided it's time to post.

I hate to ask, but being as though this will be the first big move my wife and I have made (and we're planning on starting a family soon) I wanted to get some outside input before we get our hearts set on anything.

A bit of background - my wife and I are both 30 year old professionals, living in Kansas City, MO for the past 6 years. I work as a Systems Engineer (think computers) for a small financial company, and my wife works as a wildlife educator/rehabilitator at a local nature center, and worked as a zookeeper at the KC Zoo for 5 years. We want to move closer to family (I'm from Eastern Iowa, she's from Big Lake, MN, about 45 min NW of the Cities) but not be TOO close. The Eau Claire area would be about 2 hours from her family and about 5 from mine, which is close enough for the day trip on her end and reasonable for the weekend trip for mine.

We like KC because we love our house and yard (1.5 acres right in the middle of the city) but we hate the noise, dirtiness, crowds, impolite rednecks, and the lack of viable outdoor recreation options (sure, the ozarks are beautiful but it's 2-5 hours to get to the cool stuff). We want to live in a place that is much smaller and quieter, with friendly intelligent people and an environmentally conscious community. To put it simply, it would be great to be able to bike to work.

Right now, the Eau Claire area, Duluth MN, and one of the suburbs (blech) of St Paul are on our short list. We like the location and size of Eau Claire the best - I need something big enough for my career, but we do not want to live in a "big" city. We also really like the surroundings - being able to hop on the bike or jump in the car and be in a park in an hour to go hiking or swimming or canoeing is important - we love the outdoors and wish we could spend more outside but July in KC sucks and we don't get any snow down here - we both miss white winters.

We are planning a whirlwind tour of all three major areas in two weeks (two days in each area, driving around getting a feel for the place) but I'm type-A and can't do anything without any research. Thus, my post.

If you have any advice for us in our search for a new city, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading this, I know this question gets asked 40 times a day.

Wes (and Mel)

[radraja]

Hmmm...I can only think of a few things to point out...

1. The job situation. Do you have a potential job already lined up? If not, you may have a really hard time finding one. I have family up in EC and there's a major shortage of decent paying jobs. Saint Paul is probably going to be your best bet in terms of finding decent employment, to be honest. Des Moines could maybe work too, if you're willing to look there...their job market is supposed to be quite good these days.

2. Biking. Biking to work in several feet of snow isn't going to pleasant. You could do it in the summer, and perhaps late spring/early fall, but I wouldn't count on doing it in the winter.

3. There's not nearly as much to do as you currently have in KC. I'm sure you realize this, since Eau Claire is a significantly smaller city, but you'd be surprised at how many young couples move up to EC for the "outdoorsiness" and love it at first...but go out of their minds with boredom after a few months. If you're used to the amenities and options of a bigger city, you might find the lack of options in EC to be a bit stifling and repetitive.

Good luck on your visits.

[whoiswes]

Thanks for the comments radraja! You asked a very good question, specifically about the job situation - that's one thing I don't have much of a gauge on, as I'm trying to "work where I live" versus "live where I work". That's how we ended up in KC and while it's worked out, we feel like we sorta wasted the last 6 years here. Thanks for the headsup on the job situation, I kinda figured that after doing a couple of precursory job searches...that will obviously be more important as time progresses but we wanted to find the place we wanted to live and then make the job situation work around that. Potentially a VERY bad idea, I know, but the last thing I want is to end up working in downtown Minneapolis and having a 45-60min commute every day...

Although KC has a ton to do, 95% of the time we end up at home on the couch or in the backyard - we're not big into the nightlife and going out, except once and a while. To tell you the truth, spending a Saturday afternoon on the patio with a grill/smoker, some good beer/wine, and several friends is just about the perfect "night out" for us. I do appreciate the forewarning on boredom though, although that's what homebrewing is for (always wanted to try)

As for the biking, I did mean during the nice weather, LOL, but I used to bike anywhere and everywhere in college (Iowa State, in Ames, IA). I guess I meant that I wanted to find a place where you see people on bikes, out walking, etc - in KC all you see are people in cars, they drive EVERYWHERE!

Sorry to have written another book - but I appreciate the input and honest feedback. Take it easy!

Wes

[radraja]

Yeah, that's the thing - moving to a town without a job is a very risky move. I really wouldn't recommend it.

It's not fun to let work decide where you live, but it's probably a lot worse to end up stuck with a mortgage or rent agreement but no job to pay for it.

[dreamhunter65]

That be only thing is the job in EC.. But otherwise sound like country people that do not need a big city scene to be happy as here have the bike trails canoe areas galore,skiing,snow shoeing and such. Also have a choice of smaller areas /towns to live in and get away from traffic. Do a Eau claire/chippewa falls online jobs search see what is available.

What ever you 2 decide enjoy as big decision and when thinking of kids smaller areas seem better as we have good school up this way and less crime than alot of areas.

[geekduo]

Make sure to spend some time in Chippewa Falls when you visit Eau Claire. I spent most of my life in that area. I always thought that Chippewa felt more laid back and outdoorsy than Eau Claire. And it's only a short distance from Eau Claire so you could find a job in either city, in fact they just built a new highway that has made that drive incredibly easy.

[crazyme4878]

My sister didn't like Chippewa Falls (lived there about 5-6 years), but then, that is my sister. Have you checked out River Falls? From what I remember, it is a pretty town. My cousin lives there and likes it alot.

I LOVE Duluth. That would be my first choice, but then I'm a northwoods gal. Nothing can beat living next to Lake Superior! I miss it every day (yeah, okay, so I'm in the desert now...of course I'm going to miss water, but I missed Superior even when I lived on the northern shore of Lake Michigan.).

[geekduo]

Crazyme-I went to college in RF and I did like that town too. It is a growing area because of it's proximity to the Twin Cities. I think it depends on your preferences. Everybody's different.
River Falls is good for people who want a small college town within easy access to a large metropolitan area. It only takes about 45 minutes to get into St. Paul, MN. Close enough to commute to work there if you needed to. It also borders the river valley and the bluffs start just south of there if you like scenery.
Chippewa Falls is good if you want the more laid back atmosphere and easy access to the northwoods and lakes. Eau Claire is only a few minutes south with not only a college but also any shopping you would need. Entertainment is more limited, but it is only about 1 and a half to 2 hours drive to St. Paul, MN. Too far away for a commute, but close enough for a weekend getaway.
I've never been to Duluth though, I'd like to visit up there sometime.

[GraniteStater]

Having visited Eau Claire a few years ago I would say it has all the ammenities you would expect for a town of its size, and it is not too far from MPLS. I would definitely choose Eau Claire over KC if you have a job lined up in EC. I am a big fan of smaller cities, and it sounds like you are as well. Also, the northwoods are a short trip north of Eau Claire with great hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, etc.

[lizmagee]

The Chippewa Valley (Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and smaller surrounding towns) are a great place to live. Eau Claire obviously has the most jobs being the biggest city but there are still jobs in other towns too. That area isn't the only one being affected by the bad economy.
Eau Claire has a lot to do and lots of places to go and so do the other towns. But if you are looking to start a family I might suggest living in Chippewa and commuting to EC for work, Chippewa's schools are better. Plus with the new bypass it generally only takes about 10-15 min to get to EC depending what part of town you are heading to.
That area is close enough to the Cities, Madison, Green Bay, Milwaukee, and Chicago that you can do day trips to some and weekend trips to others.
I'm the same way, A type, I research every place I move to or vacation to too. Good luck on you day trips and I'm sure I don't need to tell you that you need to go to all of the areas of Eau Claire because even though it's about 65-70k population there are pretty distinct neighborhoods and the city varies pretty big place to place.