Ames

1000 Friends of Iowa intensified our involvement in Ames in late 2002, when we had a full-time employee working on the ground in Ames to do a variety of organizing activities to channel community opposition to a proposed regional mega-mall on the eastern fringe of the community near I-80. Download Reasons to Oppose the New Regional Mall.

In the summer of 2003, 1000 Friends worked with Ames citizens to form the Ames Smart Growth Alliance. This group began meeting once a month to brainstorm ways not only to combat the current drive towards approving the new mall, but also to work with city leaders to promote alternative growth strategies that would preserve the character of Ames. Since then, citizens in Ames have been using legal action to stop the construction of the new mall that is now being called a “lifestyle center” by supporters of the project. They still await a ruling from a District Court judge from a petition filed in May of 2006.

While the unneeded retail development has been held at bay, other promising developments in Ames have advanced. One development received a Best Development Award from 1000 Friends of Iowa in 2005, Somerset neighborhood in Ames. This is a walkable, well-planned new development that embraces many of the principles of smart growth and new urbanism and is located on the north side of Ames.

Citizens in Ames have also celebrated numerous other victories, such as voter-approval of a bond referendum for a new outdoor aquatic center in July of 2007. This aquatic center is an infill project that will draw people to spend time recreating in the core of the community. The aquatic center itself incorporates principles of conservation design and responsible stormwater management. A wetland protection and riparian buffer area will be completed, which will help preserve water quality of Squaw Creek on the western edge of the development.

Visit http://www.amessmartgrowth.org/ for more information about the Ames Smart Growth Alliance