Randall Park — five parks.

Why people love it here

• Some of the city’s best parks are your front yard: Carson Park above the neighborhood, Owen Park along the river, Half Moon Lake, and the Chippewa River State Trail running past.
• Carson Park is where Hank Aaron played in the summer of 1952 before going pro — today it holds two history museums, the Eau Claire Express ballpark, and UW–Eau Claire football.
• A recognized historic district (National Register, 1983): Colonials and period homes with big front porches — some looking directly onto Randall Park itself.
• Downtown is a short hop across the river, and the Water Street district and university are a few blocks from the park-side homes.

Carter’s take

“Randall Park proper is mostly college rentals — some owner-occupied homes sprinkled in, but the population skews young. The houses themselves are the draw: cool homes with real character, even if a lot of them are average multi-student rentals. During the school year it’s walkers everywhere and steady street traffic; come summer it quiets right down. And the closer you get to Lake Street, the more residential it gets — that’s where the student housing fades.”

Carter Barstad · Hometown Realty Group

A neighborhood built around its parks

Randall Park is one of Eau Claire’s recognized historic districts — city preservation materials say it was among the local districts placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The National Park Service survey describes the district as a grouping of homes and church buildings around Randall Park, with examples of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century architecture and ties to Eau Claire’s lumber history.

What really defines it, though, is the park system around it. Visit Eau Claire calls this historic district home to some of the city’s best parks — Carson Park above the neighborhood, Owen Park along the river, and the Chippewa River State Trail running past. Few in-town neighborhoods put this much green space within walking distance. The neighborhood spreads down the hill from Carson Park, between Half Moon Lake and the Chippewa River.

The homes

A sizable residential neighborhood of many historic homes on tree-lined streets: Colonials and other period styles with large front porches — some looking directly onto Randall Park itself — original trim, hardwood floors, fireplaces, and built-ins. Houses range from grand park-facing homes to more modest early-1900s places on the side streets, and the blocks nearer Water Street and the university include duplexes and rental homes mixed in with owner-occupied ones.

What to watch for

• The big systems — roof, wiring, plumbing, insulation, foundation — and any prior updates, carefully documented.
• Porch, lot, and park frontage: a park-facing porch is a lifestyle feature here, and it prices like one.
• How close the home sits to Carson Park event routes and Water Street — walk it on a game day if you can.
• Traffic, parking, and street activity at different times; proximity to parks and trails varies by address.
• Rental history if you’re buying near the university side, and what the neighboring properties are used for.

Schools & services

Public schools are in the Eau Claire Area School District. Most Randall Park addresses are assigned to Lakeshore Elementary (on Lake Street, at the edge of the neighborhood), DeLong Middle School, and Memorial High School. Attendance areas do change — confirm the assignment for any specific address with the district before you buy.

Parks, trails & everyday life

• Carson Park — two history museums, views over Half Moon Lake, an accessible playground, and the ballpark that’s home to the Eau Claire Express; UW–Eau Claire plays football here, including homecoming each fall.
• Randall Park — the neighborhood’s namesake green space, ringed by historic homes.
• Owen Park — an 11-acre riverfront park along the Chippewa River from Lake Street to Water Street, with a bandshell for summer concerts.
• Chippewa River State Trail — paved trail access for biking and walking to downtown, Phoenix Park, and miles of riverfront.
• Half Moon Lake — paddling, fishing, and sunset views right in the neighborhood.

The market, honestly

Randall Park’s median listing price was $232,450 in October 2026 — the most affordable entry of Eau Claire’s historic districts, with park frontage commanding the premium at the top of the neighborhood’s range.

Who it fits — and the honest trade-offs

Showing-day checklist

• Put the big systems first: roof, wiring, plumbing, insulation, foundation.
• Check rental history near the university side.
• Visit at different times — trail and park use changes the street feel.
• Weigh the park frontage honestly — it’s a lifestyle feature and prices like one.
• Compare park-facing and side-street options side by side.
• Walk the blocks on a game day to feel event traffic and parking.

Good next step

Walk the park and nearby blocks, catch an Express game or a bandshell concert if it’s summer, then compare a few actual listings so you can see how home styles, condition, and layouts differ across the neighborhood. Carter can show you park-facing and side-street options side by side.

Sources: City of Eau Claire Historic Preservation · National Park Service — Randall Park Historic District survey · Visit Eau Claire — neighborhoods & districts · Realtor.com market data, Oct 2026. Eau Claire County Treasurer — 2025 Mill Rates (2025 levy) · Wisconsin Department of Revenue — 2025 Statement of Taxes, Eau Claire County · This guide is a starting point, not a statement about every property. Verify schools, taxes, zoning, condition, and other priorities for a specific address.

House-hunting this week? See this week’s open houses in Eau Claire — every brokerage’s open houses, in one place, no sign-up needed.

Carter’s Eau Claire sales

Guides are opinions; closings are proof. Carter’s production record is kept by city, not by neighborhood — and 28 of his 55 career sales are in Eau Claire, Randall Park’s city — $8,278,650 in closed volume, from his MLS Agent Production & Inventory Report (the same record behind the numbers on the home page). Most recent first:

Taxes & total cost

The short version: About $397 a month on a median-priced Randall Park home — Eau Claire’s rate is citywide, so it’s the neighborhood’s friendlier prices, not a special rate, that make this the smallest tax bill of the city’s historic districts.

Property taxes here run on the 2025 levy — the bills Eau Claire County mailed in December 2025, payable in 2026. A home in the City of Eau Claire in the Eau Claire Area School District carried a net rate of $20.47 per $1,000 of assessed value (Eau Claire County Treasurer, 2025 Mill Rates). A mill is just $1 for every $1,000, so read that as about $20.47 a year for each $1,000 the assessor says your home is worth. That last part matters: the tax is figured on the assessor’s value, which is supposed to track market value but can sit above or below what a home actually sells for. The county puts the city’s 2025 assessment ratio at 0.7645 — assessed values running at roughly three-quarters of market value — so a home’s tax value can sit well under its sale price.

Open a 2025 city tax bill and that $20.47 splits four ways:

• City of Eau Claire — 8.44 mills, about 41% of the bill. The largest single slice: the city levy that pays for streets, police and fire, parks, and the rest of city services.
• Eau Claire Area School District — 7.83 mills, about 38%. The schools are the close second.
• Eau Claire County — 3.37 mills, about 16%. County roads, courts, and county services.
• Chippewa Valley Technical College — 0.84 mills, about 4%. The smallest line on the bill.

There is no separate state line of any size on the 2025 bill — those four levies are the whole rate. The city levy is the biggest single driver of the bill, with the school district right behind it, so when either of those two budgets moves, your tax bill moves with it.

Here is the math, run step by step on this guide’s example price. The example treats the price as the home’s assessed value, just to keep the math clean:

1. Step 1 — the value: Randall Park’s median listing price from this guide, $232,450, treated as the assessed value.
2. Step 2 — the annual tax: $232,450 ÷ 1,000 = 232.45; 232.45 × $20.47 = about $4,758 a year, call it $4,760.
3. Step 3 — the monthly tax: $4,760 ÷ 12 = about $397 a month.

What that estimate leaves out: Wisconsin then knocks two credits off after the bill is calculated, so the check you actually write is smaller than the gross figure above: the lottery and gaming credit ($194.74 for a primary home in the Eau Claire district in 2025) and the first dollar credit ($64.91) take roughly $260 off a qualifying home’s bill. Special charges and assessments are not in the rate at all — they ride on top of it, parcel by parcel. And your home’s actual assessment will differ from the example price, in either direction.

Randall Park pays the same citywide $20.47 as every other Eau Claire neighborhood — the rate is set by the city and the school district, not by the block. What makes the tax bill here friendlier is the entry price: as the most affordable of the city’s historic districts, the neighborhood’s median home carries the smallest tax bill of the three, and park frontage raises a home’s assessment, not its rate. On a median Randall Park home, plan on about $397 a month for the tax line, inside the full monthly equation: mortgage payment, plus taxes, plus insurance.

See how all 28 areas compare: Chippewa Valley property taxes, side by side.

Questions buyers ask