The new Eau Claire of the post-World War II period emerged slowly by steadily. Economically it did not shed it's manufacturing significance, but it came to define industrial more broadly. The new at-large City Council appreciated that high education, medical care, and government were all important service industries that needed to be encouraged. It was also in this period that Eau Claire became a major center of commerce focusing on large shopping malls and national retailers. This new center of service and commerce also expanded rapidly outside of the valleys of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers. This surge to the south threatened the existence of the older Eau Claire, but the downtown core of the city, the Confluence, proved resilient, and by the city's sesquicentennial (2022), it had recovered much of its earlied aura and prominence. The "creative economy" augurs well for the creation of a fourth Eau Claire. That wil, most likely, depend of national trends.
