What needs changing in Ames first?

**chuckd4735** · 01-09-2008, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by redrocker

Really? So Ames is an old river town that was basically supported by packing houses and an old Manufacturing plant that makes tractors, that is full of meth labs and pot smokers. Yep I really see the comparison there. Almost identical

Next time quote everything that was said...when it comes to RETAIL, and if you took away Iowa State University, Ames would be practically identical to Ottumwa. Ames does not utilize the university as much as it should and the town continually has denied and scared away possible retail development. Ames has what dying towns in America would love to have, a MAJOR university with two four-lane highways, one of which is considered a major thoroughfare for the American economy, and is just 25 miles north of the busiest interstate in America. Ames has continually underutilized its possibilities.

**wonkadog** · 01-09-2008, 10:20 AM

Most towns that colleges reside in (besides large metropolitan cities) are pretty much the same as Ames. You take out the university and you're left with not much. Take for example Manhattan, Stillwater, even Iowa City isn't anything great if you took away the university, plus they've got the advantage of being right on I-80.

**isuno1fan** · 01-09-2008, 10:21 AM

Ames needs a casino for all the new betting addicts!

**wonkadog** · 01-09-2008, 10:23 AM

With the way things are going in Iowa, there will probably be one here soon! Hard eights anyone??

**ornryactor** · 01-09-2008, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by timc243

The mindset of anti-growth people.

DING-DING-DING! We have a WINNER!

But seriously- it's the same group of Ames residents that are responsible for SO many of the town's problems. Ames is quite literally the only place I have ever seen that is a mid-size city trying as hard as it can to pretend that it's a small town. These are also the same people that think the ISU students are the source of all the city's problems, and the same people who are fervent supporters of any legislation that restricts the students' rights in any way (and believe me, there's a LOT of that). There are plenty of good ones, but generally speaking, the Ames townies are idiots. The first change that needs to happen is that we get said fools off of the city council, where they make mountains out of molehills, slow everything down to a crawl, and just generally muck everything up. Ryan Doll is a great start; now we need more people capable of rational thought than just him.

As far as actual physical changes: Campustown needs a massive overhaul (which it isn't likely to get). The best thing they could ever do for it is to make the Welch Ave. hill a pedestrian mall. There are also a few storefronts that have been empty for a long time, and others that are in pretty poor shape. Force business owners to spend some money making the outside of their places look nicer.

I'm kinda undecided on the new mall, but it's going to happen anyway. I think in the long run, it will be a great move- all of the arguments against it were repeats of when they announced they were building Coral Ridge Mall way out in a cornfield outside the edge of Coralville. Folks thought it was a stupid location, too far away, would kill off existing shopping, etc. Well, now the location is an absurdly massive retail explosion with every kind of store you could imagine, and is attracting big national chains right and left, with no signs of slowing. Yes, the older malls and downtown suffered- for a while. Then they picked right back up and did better than ever.

The aquatic center they're building on 13th will be a big growth point for the city, too. It looks like it will be rather nice; let's hope the city manages it wisely and uses the profits wisely. (I still think ISU was foolish to give up that land, though.)

The roads are a big problem, but the city is aware of that and they're working on it. (Having the state DOT headquarters right in town is a huge help, too.) Pushing Grand all the way through to South 16th will hopefully alleviate a lot of traffic on east Lincoln and at the Lincoln/Duff chaos... er, intersection. Now if they could just time the damn stoplights across the city so that they make SOME kind of sense...

I'm sure there's more stuff to talk about; I just can't think of it.

**IcSyU** · 01-09-2008, 10:27 AM

A new, bigger jail so everyone fits comfortably? Oh wait, Ames...not Iowa City...

**pulse** · 01-09-2008, 10:31 AM

I think the first thing that needs to change in Ames is that they need to get rid of all the people who don't like it so much that they have to complain about it all the time.

**cybsball20** · 01-09-2008, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by brianhos

Traffic is horrible for a small town
Housing prices are a joke
There are no good jobs in town

Three great points. I can't beleive the housing prices. We drove around and grabbed some flyers to some houses comparable to ours in Beaverdale, they were all about 20-50% higher then what we expected....

**IcSyU** · 01-09-2008, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by brianhos

There are so many problems with Ames it is hard to know where to start...

Traffic is horrible for a small town
Housing prices are a joke
There are no good jobs in town

Being one of those 97 year old ladies that welcomes people at Walmart isn't a good job????

**ornryactor** · 01-09-2008, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by pulse

I think the first thing that needs to change in Ames is that they need to get rid of all the people who don't like it so much that they have to complain about it all the time.

Right, if there's something you don't like about the city where you live, raise families, and pay taxes, it's best to just bend over and take it. Or leave. We don't need people who aren't willing to be complacent and take what they're darn well given!

But seriously, man. Think about this for a second- if people are complaining about living in Ames, it means they want to stay there, but want to see one thing or another improved. There ARE quite a few good things about Ames, and overall, it's a nice place to live. It is, however, a LONG ways from perfect, and I think most people are just making the point that it is a longER ways from perfect than it should be. Why would you not want to be involved in making something that you care about better? If you had a leaky roof, you'd fix it. You wouldn't say, "Well, that's too bad, I guess we need to either live with it or leave town." That's what this discussion is about- fixing the leaky roof.

**everyyard** · 01-09-2008, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by cyfan964

I don't understand why we don't develop the areas near I-35 more. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Ankeny got it figured out... why can't we?

Great, then we can look to emulate Ankeny. Just what every college town dreams of being a suburb with beige cookie cutter housing divisions as far as the eye can see followed by sprawl of strip malls extending even further. Ames is nice because it is one of the few "college towns" left for big schools. It is not a city that happens to have a college buried in it somewhere.

**akclone** · 01-09-2008, 10:59 AM

Lower commercial property taxes to take some pressure off locally owned businesses. This city council loves to spend OPM but fights like hell(part of the council) when a developer wants to open a new shopping mall that would increase the tax base.

**pulse** · 01-09-2008, 11:10 AM

I'm willing to bet most people who are doing the complaining don't even live there. Yeah I know one guy said he grew up there, but so did I. I know Ames isn't perfect, but its a lot better than people who like to complain about it make it out to be.

I can answer a few questions, its a University town like University towns all across the country. Housing is expensive because its driven by the market. Most people have jobs related to the University and get paid fairly decently so housing is more expensive, and because people want to live there.

Traffic isn't bad. OMG get out of state and see what really badtraffic is like. Even Des Moines doesn't have bad traffic. That's why I can't believe when people leave games early. Traffic in Iowa is non-existent.

Yeah the mall sucks. Unless you're 13 who spends any time in a mall?

Ames isn't suffering from anti-growth, its suffering from being in Iowa. Ames won't ever turn into Ankeny (thankfully) until all the fields between Polk City and Ames are turned into concrete. There is no big business growth in Iowa to provide lots of well paying jobs, its that simple. That's why so many people move out of state when they graduate.

**pulse** · 01-09-2008, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by everyyard

Great, then we can look to emulate Ankeny. Just what every college town dreams of being a suburb with beige cookie cutter housing divisions as far as the eye can see followed by sprawl of strip malls extending even further. Ames is nice because it is one of the few "college towns" left for big schools. It is not a city that happens to have a college buried in it somewhere.

Funny we used the same example.

**wonkadog** · 01-09-2008, 11:16 AM

I agree with pulse, I don't want to see Ames turn into the next Ankeny/Johnston/Waukee/Grimes, etc. I think that's what some of the "anti-growth" people are scared of. It's the nice older neighborhoods and lack of major congestion and headache that make Ames a great town. That being said, there are definitely areas where the town can improve in.