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- Thread starter Mtowncyclone13
- Start date
I'd say most of the new desirable housing being in the Gilbert district would have something to do with it.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Beat me to it.
See if the drop is pretty equal to the growth in Gilbert.
Also, much of Ames' growth has to do with increased enrollment, not in bringing in families.
As a former Ames high student I've wondered the samething. Most of the kids that live in North Ames end up going to Gilbert schools instead of Ames schools. I've never really understood why since Ames has one of the top high schools in the state. Now that there's more housing development going on in west and south Ames I could see Ames high enrollment go up
As for as athletics Ames high competes with most schools but usually over-matched by DSM area schools like Valley, Johnston, Dowling, Ankeny.
My stepdaughter actually did the opposite. She was supposed to go to Gilbert but open enrolled to Ames.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
It's this weird Iowa nostalgia thing that small schools are the best way to educate kids, because many of those parents went to a smaller school than Ames.
Gilbert becomes the convenient way to sort of get that.
Gilbert is a weird place, all these people and nice new schools, new construction houses all over and there's not a damn thing in that town.
All of the smaller towns shrinking. I know that Ottumwa can't compete and shouldn't be in the 4A division with those CIML schools. That can hardly even field a football team anymore. To that end they actually got rid of the JV squad, more than likely because they need them on the team.
Gilbert has exploded in enrollment due to housing growth on the north side of Ames being in the Gilbert district. Most of the single family growth in Ames has been on the north side. Plus overall people are having less kids so without big growth numbers will go down or flat line. http://www.amestrib.com/news/gilbert-schools-benefit-ames-expansion
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CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Not to mention, Ames High is generally considered one of the top 2 or 3 high schools in the state every year. When I went there, Gilbert was not even an afterthought. But it was the city of Ames that decided to make the district cutoff line at Bloomington knowing full well that most of the new residential growth would occcur north of there.
How many years ago did they draw those boundaries though?
Had to have been at least 25-30 years ago. For the longest time the city tried to prevent growth in north Ames, but it was futile because Hunziker owned so much land in north Ames and the other designated growth areas were already pretty congested or already had development going on. City planning in Ames has been pretty awful as most people can see.
That might be one of the smartest things they've done. An example around Cedar Rapids, is the LinnMar district in Marion. It is one of the most expensive tax districts to live in because of the lack of a commercial tax base, so the burden ends up on the residents. Residents just turned down a tax increase proposal because the district needs more space. I'm sure the issue will be proposed again.
Gilbert residents are going to be faced with some pretty high taxes soon if they are not already.
Yeah pretty simple here. Most of Ames residential growth over the past 10-15 years has occurred north of Bloomington Road, and in the Gilbert School District. You can see the school district boundaries here: http://www.storycountyiowa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5051
Pretty much everything north of Bloomington and West of Dayton is Gilbert. When you look at that map, there really are not too many areas left for Ames to grow residentially that would be in the Ames school district, especially with the push to make everything East of I35 industrial. Pretty much a few pockets north of the tracks along North Dakota, along R-38 on west side of town, south and west of the new research park expansion and south of the Caseys on Duff. A lot of that ground on the SE side of the district is floodplain, and will never be developed at a rate to help Ames increase enrollment.
Pretty much everything north of Bloomington and West of Dayton is Gilbert. When you look at that map, there really are not too many areas left for Ames to grow residentially that would be in the Ames school district, especially with the push to make everything East of I35 industrial. Pretty much a few pockets north of the tracks along North Dakota, along R-38 on west side of town, south and west of the new research park expansion and south of the Caseys on Duff. A lot of that ground on the SE side of the district is floodplain, and will never be developed at a rate to help Ames increase enrollment.
Yep - parents want a small school, and Ames gov't wants to be a small Midwestern town. Despite the university busting at the seams, and providing a standard of living that usually wouldn't be available to a town of <50,000 permanent residents.
They tried to prevent growth in North Ames because of the high cost of extending infrastructure and services in that area. Studies showed the cheapest areas to extend infrastructure/services was in the SW and NW, so Ames put priority on those areas. Thats actually really good planning.
Also, the City has no decision making authority in determining school district boundaries, thats solely on the school districts.
