My son is Moving to Eau Claire Wisconsin from Alabama for his job. Any recommendations on cat friendly apartments ? (Menomonie: rentals, crime rates)

[Worried mom of 3]

Hi everyone thank you for adding me. I’m writing because I need some insight about where my son is about to make his new home. My son has lived here in Alabama his whole life, and I am so terrified at the fact him moving 950 miles away from home , and all his family. He is embarking on this new journey with his job. Granted yes he is an adult, just turned 21, but he will always be my baby no matter how old he gets. Him and his cat will be moving there to Eau Claire on November 1st or 2nd. Can any of you tell me how the area is? Crime rate? Hate crimes? How is the weather there, ? Do y’all have snow or ice , and what’s the worst months? All we have here in Alabama is IcE ! Is there any public transportation? Also any cat friendly apartments located in a safe area if so please list them ?? Please help ease my mind! I am so sick over this.
Thank you for any helpful information,
Amy (Worried Mom of 3)

[genesiss23]

He is going to have to buy a coat fairly quickly after moving. By early November, we would have had our first frost and by the end of the month the first snow. Remember, he will also need an ice scraper, snow brush and small shovel for the car. During a bad storm, you might want to keep some extra food and a blanket in the car. It will take some time for him to get use to driving in the snow. The coldest months are December-February.

[Worried mom of 3]

Thank you! Whew this is just so sudden! We still have our AC on here in Alabama, it was in the 90’s today. We don’t even have anywhere around here that I know of that sells snow boots, and big thick heavy clothes and jackets ! The only thing remotely close to a jacket that we own is a hoodie ! I wear my flip flops until Around Mid December. Oh man, I just wish he would reconsider this move, because the relocating isn’t mandatory... just better pay and better benefits.

[HollyhockGarden]

Hi Amy -aka Momof3 !

Welcome to CityData! First of all, I'm a Mom too, and although I do not live in WI now, I did live there for a number of years. I'm guessing this is a job transfer for your son? Since he is 21 and doing well enough on his job to be transferred to a new location, I'm guessing he will do just fine finding his new apartment, cat-friendly, too.

Eau Claire is a nice town and pretty safe, too. Just for fun, I Googled cat-friendly apts in Eau Claire, WI and came up with all sorts of leads. I checked out a popular one, zumper.com and found an apt complex that was pet-friendly. He shouldn't have much trouble. He will probably have to pay a pet deposit and maybe monthly pet-rent in addition to his regular rent. Pretty common these days.

Since this is a job transfer, I would suggest he also ask the HR Dept or Office Mgr, or even his immediate supervisor-to-be for some apartment and temp housing suggestions. Most staff are happy to assist a new person!

Eau Claire is the home of University of WI Eau Claire and is a nice college town. He can also check out advertisements for student apartments and also students wanting a roommate, to save on rent. Being a college town, there will be lots of events going on. I'm sure he knows his way around the computer and can check-out meetup.com and the college websites for lots of activity ideas.

Eau Claire sounds like a great place to be transferred to! Not too big, not too small. And a spot with beautiful lakes and forests, great camping, and a big enough city to provide lots of opportunities to make friends.

[DeliriumTrigger33]

I know the thread is a few weeks old, and this is my first post. Been lurking for a while.

Eau Claire is a great city. I went to tech school there, and my wife went to UW Eau Claire a couple years ago. We both love and miss EC.

The area is beautiful. Lots of forests, lakes, and rolling farmland. The city itself is somewhat hilly, has lots of trees, parks, and two beautiful rivers flowing through town.

The city has lots of amenities; grocery stores, Walmart, Target, a pretty good sized mall, and auto shops, doctors, clinics, etc. There are tons of bars and restaurants all across the spectrum; from fast food and casual chains to small local eateries; and from college bars to wine bars and micro-breweries. The city has a pretty good public bus system, and there aren't any areas where you experience traffic jams or anything like that. There are a lot of music and art festivals, a huge weekly farmers market in the summer, and UWEC always has a lot of events going on.


It's a large college town so it's pretty liberal, the area surrounding EC is rural and fairly conservative, but in general everyone is friendly. Lots of 18-25 year olds in town, so he should be able to find new friends.

Crime rates in EC are pretty low, no violent crime or gangs, most of the crime is the typical misdemeanor-type stuff; theft from an unlocked car, bar fight, vandalism. There aren't really any bad areas of town.

There are lots of student rentals near the UWEC campus and some nicer more upscale apartments near downtown. A lot of the student rentals are in old houses, that have been converted into duplex or triplex apartments. A lot of the triplex's have 1 bedrooms or studios as one of the units.

If he hasn't already found something. Your best bet for finding apartments would be to check on the UWEC or CVTC (tech school) websites, they should have links to local apartment resources. The local newspaper is called the Leader-Telegram for classifieds, or check on the local Eau Claire Buy/Sell page on facebook. There will probably be some students looking to sub-lease their apartments for the 2nd semester, or possibly for a roommate if he wouldn't mind that.

As for the weather...
You get all 4 seasons. Spring, summer, and fall are wonderful. Spring and Fall can be bipolar with temps bouncing from the 30s to the 70s, sometimes within 24-36 hours, but 50s-60s are the average. In early and late summer its in the 70's-80s and around 90 for a few weeks in July-Aug.

But it can get pretty cold in the winter (although not as bad as here in Fargo). It's fairly common to get several days or a week at a time of high temperatures between -10 and +108F, usually in Jan.-Feb. The rest of winter is usually in the low to mid 20s or low 30s.
Big snow storms (12-18+ inches) can happen from November to April. But it's usually more like a handful of smaller snow storms throughout the year.

The city of Eau Claire is pretty good at plowing snow, but they really only plow and use road salt (to melt snow and ice) on the main roads. On the smaller city streets however, plowing is inconsistent and they only use sand on the ice. So travel, even when it hasn't snowed for a few days, can be a little hazardous, especially in spring when the roads are full of big ponds of water and slushy snow and ice.

So a good set of gloves, and warm hats and scarfs, and jackets are essential. As is an ice scrapper/snow brush for the car.

[Worried mom of 3]

Thank you so much for your reply. Alabama weather is pretty bipolar year round lol.

[ReDNeQ]

I moved from Texas to Wi a few years ago. The first place I moved to was about 2 1/2 hours north of Eau Claire, the new home is an hour from but south. We almost chose Eau Claire. It's a great town. Lots of amenities. As a father of 4, 3 of which are in their young 20's I would love it for them to have the opportunity to go. It really is exactly what DeliriumTrigger says.

Lots of College Kids, and the bar scene near the campus is quaint. The city as a whole is seperated between old & new since 94 comes thru. There is alot of expansion happening along the highways and some surburbia's are popping up.

When he get's here, he can goto any of the local stores and get the clothing he needs. If it's an economics thing, don't worry they have GoodWill, Salvation Army and lots of thrift stores. He has no reason to get cold. ;P

He will need to learn to layer. That is the biggest thing. If he is an outside worker, some Carhartt or any other Insulated OVERALL's will be his friend. Again, I've lived in heat my whole life, and we chose to move up here. It's absolutely 4 seasons! No 90 degree days in Oct-Nov! ;P

[Mcdonalscrew]

Hi Mom from Alabama.. he is moving to great city and nice people and will have the experience of his life.. Half Moon Lake to the trees turning color and drives to the country and farms.. My Mom and family lived in Eau Claire WI all their lives.. tell him to drive slow get used to the change in the feel of the road.. and no speeding.. for it just makes things worse..
home home home.. there are some great places to eat.. lots of great music.. farmers markets and really great people.. pm me where is he working... does he like to fish.. the best pizza in the world is in Menomonie WI at Ted's.. and a bit of history.. but Eau Claire had one of the Round Table Knights walk to it looking for the Grail really.. they have found markers for his trail... hugs Mom of the South.. your Son is in good hands and hearts.. we lived in Tallahasee FL for 9 years and drove to your Alabama often ..

Originally Posted by genesiss23

He is going to have to buy a coat fairly quickly after moving. By early November, we would have had our first frost and by the end of the month the first snow. Remember, he will also need an ice scraper, snow brush and small shovel for the car. During a bad storm, you might want to keep some extra food and a blanket in the car. It will take some time for him to get use to driving in the snow. The coldest months are December-February.

[RenoViking]

I think this thread has cinched in my decision. We have been driving ourselves crazy looking all over the state for a new place to call home. We still might go a little further up, and go to Rice Lake, but still looking around The Eau Claire area. Seems like the "Goldilocks" town to me.

[Worried mom of 3]

Just wanted to say Thank You to everyone that has responded to my post, and to post an update on my son. We arrived in Eau Claire on November 2nd. I stayed the weekend with him and sadly I had to return back home to Alabama on November 5th. I was sad to leave my son but after I seen the area and met some folks, it kinda put me to ease. The folks I met are so kind. With the holidays approaching, I must admit it’s getting very hard for me , knowing that this is the first holidays that I won’t be with my son. The hardest thing is knowing my son isn’t going to have a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, instead he will have to settle for McDonalds or whatever is open in the area, in knowing that, I’m just not in any holiday spirit. He actually loves EC. He has had only 2 off days since being there , and he did get a chance to go exploring a little bit. He is quite taken back by the weather. He told his father “Gosh Daddy, I knew it was way colder here than in Alabama, but I didn’t expect it to be this cold so soon” It was actually 71 today here in Alabama. Thank You all again for your encouraging messages and support. God Bless 🙏🏼