What needs changing in Ames first?
- Thread starter ketelmeister
- Start date
- Mar 27, 2006
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Where are you getting these numbers? My wife and I have friends that purchased a gorgeous 10 year old home (4BR, 3 bath, two car garage, nice neighborhood, nearly 3000 sq ft) in West Ames last year for $209,000. We have other friends that built a brand new 3BR 2 1/2 bath home with 2 car garage in Ames, and did it for less than $200K. My wife and I also go on the parade of homes, every year, in Ames, and the houses that list for $343,000 are very, very high end. Not even close to the norm.
I would say that those figures are wrong. And not by just a little.
Four pages and no mention of a campustown or campus area HOTEL and the (union doesnt count)!? This would pretty much be on the university b/c they own all the land but would love to see theUniversity housing on Lincoln Way between Ash and Gray get tore down or sold and a nice marriott or hilton get put up there. I live in Des Moines but I would love to stay over night for some fb or bb games and bars afterword if there was a campustown hotel!
I'd also stay up if Ames had some cabbies!
I'd also stay up if Ames had some cabbies!
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Cy Cab doesn't work for you? :wink:
Hotels in Ames would be an interesting concept... I imagine it could be economically viable for a hotle to exist in Ames, though business would be sportatic, I don't know how many people would stay here between sporting events. You could get business from conferences and concerts held at Schemen/Hilton but again thats not terribly reliable unless maybe you work to partner with some groups/events in the area. I suppose VEISHA would be another draw, assuming there isn't any riots
In terms of making it a nicer hotel, well I guess the only people that would actually want to stay in a hotel are alumni or out of town business people anyways so no need to worry about extreme budget accomidations - thehy could also put in a nice ball room or something with hosting wedding receptions in mind (I have some friends being married on campus this summer, and while there are some places that offer reception services it sounds like there is room for improvement near campus)
Interesting suggestion though - certianly not one I'd considered yet (I'm still in the "You can crash at my place tonight" system of hosting people in Ames...)
Well then why have most of the major anchor stores in the Jordan Creek Mall shown interest in locating at the proposed Wolford mall?
Well the Barilla plat in Ames used to be the only one in America. They did a study a few years back that showed 75% of their sales were coming from the Northeast part of the country, so they recently just added a new plat in the New York area, I believe. What my understanding of that debate was, the group now referred to as "Ames Smart Growth" was afraid that if Barilla was allowed to be built, and utilties were expanded that direction from the City of Ames, growth would start sprawling to the east, which, with the exception of Lincoln Way Energy Ethanol Plat 2 miles to the East, has yet to happen in any way, sharp, or form.
I made them up. OK, actually they were from a 2006 study by Coldwell Bank. It did seem higher than I expected so take it for what it's worth.
http://coldwellbanker.com/servlet/News?action=viewNewsItem&contentId=1065982&customerType=News
Quote:
Average sale price for a single-family home covering 2,200 square feet, with four bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage in a “middle-management community” in cities that are home to Big 12 Conference universities:
1. $536,000 Boulder, Colo. (Colorado)
2. $343,233 Ames, Iowa (Iowa State)
3. $301,456 Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska)
4. $247,450 Lawrence (Kansas)
5. $235,000 Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State)
6. $228,525 Columbia, Mo. (Missouri)
7. $219,954 Austin, Texas (Texas)
8. $204,435 Manhattan (Kansas State)
9. $201,775 College Station, Texas (Texas A&M)
10. $186,249 Norman, Okla. (Oklahoma)
11. $179,475 Waco, Texas (Baylor)
12. $158,225 Lubbock, Texas (Texas Tech)
I can't speak for other communities, but the Ames numbers are no where near accurate.
There are not ver many homes in Ames that are worth $343,000. The average is much closer to $200,000.
Average sale price for a single-family home covering 2,200 square feet, with four bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage in a “middle-management community” in cities that are home to Big 12 Conference universities:
1. $536,000 Boulder, Colo. (Colorado)
2. $343,233 Ames, Iowa (Iowa State)
3. $301,456 Lincoln, Neb. (Nebraska)
4. $247,450 Lawrence (Kansas)
5. $235,000 Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State)
6. $228,525 Columbia, Mo. (Missouri)
7. $219,954 Austin, Texas (Texas)
8. $204,435 Manhattan (Kansas State)
9. $201,775 College Station, Texas (Texas A&M)
10. $186,249 Norman, Okla. (Oklahoma)
11. $179,475 Waco, Texas (Baylor)
12. $158,225 Lubbock, Texas (Texas Tech)
I can't speak for other communities, but the Ames numbers are no where near accurate.
There are not ver many homes in Ames that are worth $343,000. The average is much closer to $200,000.
Never gonna happen. Buchanan Hall is a pretty crucial building in the campus housing system. Plus, they just put a crapton of money into overhauling and adding onto it a few years ago, so it's definitely not going anywhere for a long time. Besides, what hotel chain would EVER want to build a location right in the middle of a dense concentration of noisy, destructive frat boys and far away from any high-traffic roads? It's an abysmal location for a hotel.
We already have a collection of hotels at Dayton Road off 30, at 13th off of 35, and on Elwood south of 30. They seem to be doing well, so I don't know what reason there could be for building a hotel in the middle of the city.
I agree that these numbers are clearly way off for Ames. Interestingly, for as much people complain about Ames housing prices, a recent SmartMoney Magazine study of housing prices in the 330 biggest markets in the country claims that Ames housing is undervalued by 10%.
Link: SmartMoney Magazine: Personal Finance and Investing (SmartMoney Magazine) | SmartMoney.com
But how do we fix the Ames townies? "Generally speaking, the Ames townies are idiots." Calling the general population of the city "idiots" is more than pointing out a possible improvement. People with this attitude leaving town would be an improvement in my opinion.
This has been brought up in past years, the reason it will never happen is because of the fire station.
Here in Lawrence they're building an upscale 6 or 7 story hotel right in the middle of the "student ghetto" next to campus. It's not in an "ideal" location either but they think there's definitely some sort of market for it.
I don't see why all of the hotels have to be right by the interstate to work and think Ames could use something closer to the University.
Lol! Go read the first page of this thread:
http://www.cyclonefanatic.com/forum/general-discussion/19247-ames-restaurant-question.html
In the Big 12 that is usually the case. Yet, UNL in Lincoln mat be different. Lincoln has state government and significant manufacturing. Lincoln is more than just a university town.
One restaurant that is in Omaha, Des Moines and Davenport that should be in Ames since the founder went to school there is Hooters.
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