Do you have any cafes nearby, particularly artsy ones?
I do not partake cafes. The closest "artsy" one is probably the Acoustic cafe but that's downtown and requires a drive and finding a place to parallel park, and on top of that, the food sucks. No thanks.
Any local colleges with college hangouts? Start frequenting them and you might find people to talk to.
Two colleges, a university and a tech. The college hangouts? All bars. Under 21 for the time being so that's also out. And even when I am 21, I don't want to go bar hopping. I have better things to waste my time doing.
Also, they'll have various free and low-cost functions at other hangouts, such as concerts and workshops.
I don't even know what Eau Claire has. They sure as [parasitic bomb] have nothing in the way of concerts save for Music at Phoenix Park every thursday (which is a good hangout for people who like that stuff, like my parents. Not me.) And workshops? I don't think those happen here either.
There are other stupid things that happen here too, especially in the summer. Like Country Jam/Fest/whatever, if you like that kind of music I guess it would be something but I for one abhor it and the sort of people that would venture out to this shithole to go see it.