E.C. Named One of Nation’s Best Places to Live

words by mckenna scherer • photo by andrea paulseth

EAU CLAIRE IS NO STRANGER TO “BEST PLACES TO LIVE” LISTS, AND ONCE AGAIN HAS LANDED ON ONE OF THESE rankings thanks to Livability.com.

Ranked #78 on the website’s just-published “Best Places to Live in the US in 2022” list – right between Framingham, Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire – Eau Claire was described as a “thriving city with a dynamic arts and culture scene that gets top billing.”

The listing noted the city’s low unemployment rate, growing economy, and unique events (such as the U.S. Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship), while also giving a nod to UWEau Claire, the Chippewa River State Trail, the Pablo Center at the Confluence, and The Brewing Projekt.

Livability.com has been creating its “Best Places to Live” list for nine years, each year reevaluating through a plethora of collected data to make its selections. For this year’s list, more than 2,300 mid-sized cities were examined across eight categories to measure their economic stability, housing, amenities, transportation and infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, and healthcare.

Through all this data, each city is assigned a LivScore. The site noted each of the 100 cities on the list were found to be welcoming, relatively affordable, and offered space and opportu- nity to grow professionally and personally. Considering Eau Claire didn’t make Livability’s 2021 list (boo!), it’s satisfying to be included once again (E.C. was part of the website’s 2014 and 2020 lists).

The Midwest held its own in the rankings, which featured six Wisconsin cities as well as communities from Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois.

Madison was crowned the No. 1 Best Place to Live, with Appleton, Green Bay, Waukesha, and La Crosse spread out over the list, too. Check out the Livability.com article to read the full write-up about Eau Claire and the rest of the 100 cities, and learn more about their data collection.

words by barbara arnold

FOR THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW, WECARE EAU CLAIRE, A COLLABORATION OF 21 EAU CLAIRE CHURCHES, IS HOSTING ITS BACK TO SCHOOL EVENT on Monday, Aug. 22, from 4:30-7:30pm at Phoenix Park. Eau Claire Area School District families in need can pick up backpacks filled with the required grade-level specific school supplies, all for free. Families are asked to come to the Phoenix Park farmers market pavilion and wait in line for a backpack for each child in their family. Feed My People Food Bank reps will be there to supply families with groceries, and the Goodwill retail store will be providing a $10 coupon for clothing and supplies from its local store, too. The L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in Eau Claire is also offering books for each child, open to any ECASD family. WECARE is taking a new approach to stocking for the event this year. In its initial years, it has struggled to fill backpacks with donated supplies, so new backpacks are sought out through donation, and WECARE will fill them with new school supplies bought with monetary donations received. Brand new backpacks are still needed, and anyone interested in volunteering should reach out, as help is needed to pack them prior to the event. COVID-19 protocols will be in place. If you are vaccinated, masks aren’t required, though six-foot distancing will be in effect and hand sanitizer available. If you aren’t vaccinated, please follow the guidelines of the Eau Claire County Health Department and CDC. More details can be found on the WECARE Eau Claire website at www. wecareeauclaire.com.

–Barbara Arnold

EVER WONDER WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO HIT THE JACKPOT? A local teen experienced it firsthand as Jordan Hagedorn – owner of Eau Claire sports card shop For the Hobby – revealed an autographed Mac Jones football card during a livestream of a weekly “break” of unopened collectors cards. Since this is a one-of-a-kind find, it is estimated to be worth at least $20,000. In these weekly breaks, collectors buy into a large box of sports cards, which Hagedorn opens on Facebook Live every Sunday. Each collector is assigned a random team and receives every card from that team. Thirty-two people had purchased a spot within this specific box, and a 16-year-old from Eau Claire was randomly given the Patriots. That’s when Jordan came across a card autographed by Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, shocking the whole livestream. In a clip from For The Hobby’s Facebook page, you can see and hear a stunned Hagedorn whoop “No way!” as he discovers the card. “As I was opening it, it took me completely by surprise,” Jordan said. “It’s the biggest card we’ve ever hit.” Jordan estimates that the card could be worth anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000. For The Hobby (1721 Birch St.) has only been open eight months, but Jordan is adamant that he could live five more lifetimes and never again hit a card this good again. While Jordan knows that making money can attract collectors to sports cards, to him the real treasure is the people and friends he’s made along the way. “Cards are a vessel for us,” Jordan said. “They’re something that brings people to the shop and they bring people joy.” See the clip on For The Hobby’s Facebook (facebook.com/forthehobby).