Campustown Redevelopment

[cytor]

Bring back People's! That place ruled.

 

[CYCLNST8]

Bring back People's! That place ruled.

God. Feels like I was there just yesterday.

 

[isucy86]

I couldn’t agree more. What a stupid article. As if there’s no other place to get medicine in Ames. Give me a break.

That said, I’m pretty surprised it’s closing. I guess the 3-4 months of students being gone doesn’t help.

That entire development has severely struggled.

CVS is closing around a 1100 stores nationwide, so there are industry/business issues there. Sure students need medicine, but I would suspect as demographics go, the 18-22 age group probably doesn't require high margin medicines.

 

[WhatchaGonnaDo]

Was Charlie Yoke's that last bar that was in there? I think it was Headliners before that.

If I remember correctly, it was AJ's Ultra Lounge for a brief period before it moved to the current location on Chamberlain.

 

[theshadow]

It's not like they're running through a new tenant every other year in that spot.

No, but it's not going to be a good look to have over half the ground-floor space open, between CVS closing and the old Fuzzy's/Cactus location still empty.

Then there's the second floor, with the old Foundation call center space still open.

 

[CY9008]

CVS express or just the pharmacy part may have worked better in a smaller building in the development, but CVS is expensive for random supplies esp for college kids.

I hope that corner doesn’t sit empty for long-

Also now will be competing with CyTown maybe for new businesses?

 

[ackatch]

It seems amazing at first that a CVS didn't succeed there, but since most of the dorms have ISU Dining Dollars with the UDCC Marketplace, it makes sense unfortunately. Its still just a bummer that the Champlin/People's building was demolished to make way for this new modern space.

As someone who worked at Kingland when they bought the block out to redevelop it, it's not a bummer at all. Those building were absolutely disgusting and a maintenance nightmare behind the scenes. Think Mickeys basement but worse.

 

[cedarstrip]

As someone who worked at Kingland when they bought the block out to redevelop it, it's not a bummer at all. Those building were absolutely disgusting and a maintenance nightmare behind the scenes. Think Mickeys basement but worse.

Everybody remembers Lumpys! Where Peoples pee drains.

 

[Haverhill]

As someone who worked at Kingland when they bought the block out to redevelop it, it's not a bummer at all. Those building were absolutely disgusting and a maintenance nightmare behind the scenes. Think Mickeys basement but worse.

I'm generally always in Team "Preservation" over something new going in. The block feels soulless now with that original cornerstone building.

 

[JP4CY]

When I was in school decades ago there was a dumpy charm to campus town. Now that I've traveled to A TON of ISU away games, ISU has one of the worst campus town areas I've ever seen. It's wild how big ISU is and how mediocre the surrounding area is.

 

[SCNCY]

That article makes me shake my head. I made it through four years on campus as a Type I diabetic, I think the closest pharmacy was West Hy-Vee, and you had to pay to use CyRide. I think the kids will figure it out.

Edit: and we had to walk uphill to class. Both ways! And we liked it. They didn’t clear the sidewalks when it snowed, they buffed them. If we’d been going downhill we would have slid all the way to Ankeny. Whippersnappers these days…

Same with me. I used Student health pharmacy to fill my prescriptions and it worked just fine. The bus system in Ames should be easy enough to get a student to a pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions. The continence of CVS would have been nice though.

Like anyone who has a chronic condition, it's going to take extra effort, planning, and time to make sure your not in a position where you've run out.

 

[Al_4_State]

Everybody remembers Lumpys! Where Peoples pee drains.

And where people just pissed literally anywhere.

I remember ordering a drink at the bar, and feeling something wet moving on the floor. Some guy about 8 feet down the bar was just pissing whilst ordering and the piss was rolling down towards the floor drain which I was standing too close to.

 

[Al_4_State]

When I was in school decades ago there was a dumpy charm to campus town. Now that I've traveled to A TON of ISU away games, ISU has one of the worst campus town areas I've ever seen. It's wild how big ISU is and how mediocre the surrounding area is.

I've been to a lot of away games too, and never really came to this conclusion. I think other campus districts are nicer for alumni and adults, but I don't think any of them would have been any more of a draw to my 21 year old self, who is their main market.

That said, I don't understands why Ames' Campustown can't be more appealing to the alumni crowd. Most campus districts feel a lot more like downtown Ames than they do Campustown, and IMO downtown Ames is pretty nice.

IMO, ISU alums have a weird fetish about whining about Ames. It's a pretty nice college town and all of us had a great time there. Most visitors leave with a positive impression too. WAS and Es Tas are absolutely awesome college sports bar dives, and really the only thing that Campustown is truly missing from a student experience stand point is a live music venue on par with what Peoples was.

TLDR Campustown could and should be better, but it's not anywhere near as bad as people on this board like to paint it.

 

[JP4CY]

I've been to a lot of away games too, and never really came to this conclusion. I think other campus districts are nicer for alumni and adults, but I don't think any of them would have been any more of a draw to my 21 year old self, who is their main market.

That said, I don't understands why Ames' Campustown can't be more appealing to the alumni crowd. Most campus districts feel a lot more like downtown Ames than they do Campustown, and IMO downtown Ames is pretty nice.

IMO, ISU alums have a weird fetish about whining about Ames. It's a pretty nice college town and all of us had a great time there. Most visitors leave with a positive impression too. WAS and Es Tas are absolutely awesome college sports bar dives, and really the only thing that Campustown is truly missing from a student experience stand point is a live music venue on par with what Peoples was.

I think you would have really liked Athens last year. There were definitely dedicated college bars but there was a large presence of adults out too. There was a taphouse (Jackie O's) that was absolutely a perfect for a place like Ames.
I feel like a lot of similar sized markets also have more people just hanging out and Ames doesn't have that too much.

 

[Al_4_State]

I think you would have really liked Athens last year. There were definitely dedicated college bars but there was a large presence of adults out too. There was a taphouse (Jackie O's) that was absolutely a perfect for a place like Ames.
I feel like a lot of similar sized markets also have more people just hanging out and Ames doesn't have that too much.

I wanted to go to Athens, but we'd already started field work and I had a 1 month old at home.

 

[Cyclonsin]

When I was in school decades ago there was a dumpy charm to campus town. Now that I've traveled to A TON of ISU away games, ISU has one of the worst campus town areas I've ever seen. It's wild how big ISU is and how mediocre the surrounding area is.

I've long believed this. Even when I was in school, I always thought it was clear how much better the bar scene was in other college towns I would visit. Even places like Brookings were much more fun with a better selection of watering holes.

I've always attributed that to the separation of the campustown and downtown in Ames.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I've long believed this. Even when I was in school, I always thought it was clear how much better the bar scene was in other college towns I would visit. Even places like Brookings were much more fun with a better selection of watering holes.

I've always attributed that to the separation of the campustown and downtown in Ames.

Yeah it's too bad you can't merge both areas together. That would be great

 

[Messi]

someone remind me why driveway not allowed here?

 

[Cloned4Life]

Everybody remembers Lumpys! Where Peoples pee drains.

Remember noticing the bucket sitting on the bar of Lumpy’s while waiting to order a beer…

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Ames has always been a house party place rather than a bar place. I agree that campustown is actually pretty crap.

Go to Purdue or Illinois or Wisconsin and see the vast difference