CONSTRUCTING THE FUTURE OF THE CHIPPEWA VALLEY

There’s no denying the current growth in our community. There’s a local momentum pushing us forward even in these recent years of global crisis. The evidence is right before our eyes, in the soaring new apartment complexes overlooking downtown Eau Claire, new restaurants, new businesses, new people, and a whole lot of new ideas. And though the past two years have been fraught with turbulence and uncertainty – the pandemic altering the way we live and work, continued political turmoil across the country, and some complex social and cultural shifts – they also have sparked change. An evolution that keeps us all on our toes. And growing.

Click Here for Best of the Chippewa Valley 2022 Results!

Some of this change locally involves the skid steers, mixer trucks, cranes, and folks in bright green who team up to literally build the future of our cities. Similarly, with the help of thousands of readers, we’re also trying to make sense of the future in another way – with the 15th Annual Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll, which gives a glimpse into the people, businesses, and ideas that make our community great. 

Over the past year, we've covered dozens of development projects in the greater Chippewa Valley in the pages of our magazine and online at VolumeOne.org: new apartment complexes preparing for young professionals settling into new jobs, an upgraded public library and new Children’s Museum to educate and amuse the youth of the future, and new offerings like an arcade bar slated for downtown Eau Claire, plus new banks, new restaurants, new retail shops, and all kinds of things that propel our community forward. And in the 14 years before that, we’ve seen the Chippewa Valley change in ways that we didn’t think were possible. This issue celebrates the ways we’ve changed, the ways we’ve grown, and the ways we look toward the future.

This year’s poll is a snapshot, a time capsule of the Valley’s likes (and even a few of our dislikes). In a year – or five – we may look back on some of our choices with nostalgia or befuddlement. Nevertheless, this is a moment we want to recognize – a milestone in our community’s history, as we all hopefully turn the page on a difficult couple of years and find ourselves on the precipice of something new, the beginning of the future. 

The beauty of the poll is that our opinions evolve. Things change. Every day, the Chippewa Valley becomes a better place to live through the voices and votes of those who live here and the ways we support each other. Ultimately, great restaurants and shops and parks alone aren’t the reason this is a great place to live: It’s the people who populate those places and try to make the Valley even better. 

In these 116 pages, we’ve eschewed the bulk of our regular editorial content, covering all the latest news, events, music, books, art, food and drink, and Chippewa Valley happenings in order to get these poll results out there in print. With 370 questions, 7,856 options, and a record 13,306 voters – more people than vote in some city elections! – this is our biggest poll ever. A whopping total of 148,588 votes were cast. A grand total of more than 51,000 people have voted in one or more of our polls over the past decade. Even more amazing: Some categories have had the same winner for every. Single. Year. (Turn the page to marvel at the perennial champs who make up our Best of Hall of Fame.)

So to the more than 13,000 voters who took time to give their opinions: Thank you for letting your community know what you think. Because, really, what’s the use of having a best burger without anyone to eat it? We hope the results of this poll provide the opportunity for you to try something new – or start something new! We should all strive to celebrate the things we have and work toward creating the things we don’t. That’s how people – and places – grow.

 So without further ado, here are the winners of our 2022 Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll: the people and places in our community who are working together to build a better future.