Concept
The Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area refers loosely to the urbanized area along the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers, in west-central Wisconsin, with its primary center at Eau Claire and secondary centers at Chippewa Falls and Altoona. At a ribbon-cutting for the opening of the final stretch of the newly 4-laned section of WIS 29 between Green Bay and Elk Mound, in 2005, Gov. Jim Doyle referred to the region, including Menomonie to the west, as "Wisconsin's Golden Triangle." Because the United States Census Bureau uses only counties to define census statistical areas outside New England, the official Eau Claire Metropolitan Statistical Area (which includes Chippewa Falls) encompasses all of Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties. These counties, combined with Dunn County to the west, coextensive with the Menomonie micropolitan area, comprise the Eau Claire-Menomonie Combined Statistical Area, with a 2015 population of 210,133. These three counties, especially the cities of Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire and Menomonie comprise the economic and cultural core of west-central Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley region. For practical purposes, the Eau Claire–Chippewa Falls metropolitan area extends only as far as those municipalities directly adjacent to the incorporated cities and villages in the core area, with the notable exception of the Eau Claire County town of Pleasant Valley, which is included because so much of its population is suburban rather than rural. (The Town of Pleasant Valley was one of Wisconsin's fastest-growing political divisions in the 1990s, posting a population increase of over 28%.) The Chippewa County town of Anson is also included due to its proximity to Chippewa Falls. This is the definition used by the Chippewa-Eau Claire Metropolitan Planning Organization. According to the 2015 census estimates, this core area had a 2015 population of 129,665. This population comprises 78.3% of the Eau Claire-Chippewa County area, and 61.7% of the Eau Claire-Chippewa-Dunn County area.
