Going to be new to Eau Claire area (how much, neighborhood)

[JstmeinVA]

I am hoping we can find someone willing to mentor us on Eau Claire, We have three children, one who is 12 yo and in middle school, here where we live there are no kids his age in the neighborhood, wondering about the Eau Claire area for him, We want him to be able to enjoy the outdoors, here he stays inside and plays video games. Can anyone tell me want kind of programs/recreation they have for his age there? Having a hard time finding info, any help would be greatly appreciated. Wondering if we will be welcomed in that area or will outsiders be looked down on? Trying to find info before we accept the job offer my husband applied for.
Also do you guys pay school tax there? If so how does that work? How much do you pay? Do they wear uniforms? Here they don't wear uniforms. Please anyone with help in that area?

[ndheah]

1) Uniforms are for private schools generally, EC doesn't have any private schools that I'm aware of.
2) School tax, yes - my understanding is that it's just part of your normal taxes due every year.
2a) You will have some fee's at the beginning of the year for books and such $100 or so
3)

Wondering if we will be welcomed in that area or will outsiders be looked down on

I see this question a lot, and it really doesn't make sense to me. Do people actually look down on people that move to the area that are from another state? I mean seriously - who gives a flying leap where you're from, if you're a decent person people will(should) be decent to you.
4) EC has a good bit of sports, much like every other school. If the kid wants to play video games, all the power to him, I grew up on them and I turned out just fine :-)

[JstmeinVA]

1-4 about the same here
3- we are in the military and we have had our share of being looked down upon (sometimes new people have trouble fitting in) My husband and I on the other hand are very outgoing people and love meeting new people, only had a problem when we moved to TX. (ElPaso)
4 -we don't mind him playing video games we just want him to do outside activities as well, hoping there will be kids his age in the area we move to.
Thank you for getting back to me with the info

[gossi1]

WI has so much outdoors stuff to do; put a fishing pole in his hand when you get here. You might have trouble getting him to put it down! My 14 y.o. picked up a pole when he was three and he has hardly stopped since!

[geekduo]

There are many sports opportunities available through the city parks and rec department. Here is a link to check out what is there. The City of Eau Claire - Recreation

There is also a good ymca facility, you can check them out online too for what is available.

School taxes are paid for through your property taxes, there is no separate tax to worry about paying. As for school fees, generally little or none except for certain activities or sports.
For high schools, Memorial is better than North, other than that I couldn't say since we lived in a small neighboring town when we were there. Wisconsin schools as a whole rank pretty high in quality and Eau Claire is no exception, so you can be sure your children will get a good education.

The state park system here is also great, check them out and you'll never get bored. Even in winter you can go sledding or skiing.
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/...findapark.html