One thing that bugs me about the proposed Campustown makeover is the way people seem to accept that some business will be uprooted. There are no specifics yet, just the general acknowledgement that in order to put different businesses in the same place that the current businesses reside, the old will have to make way for the new.

So much for free market economy. The business owners that helped make Campustown what it is today, that had the foresight to set up their business in a good location, will be out of luck. New people will just have the new location handed to them.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this probably won’t foster an atmosphere of confidence when new businesses come to town and think of setting up shop.

“Welcome to Ames. We appreciate you choosing our community to run your livelihood. Ignore the fact that we have a history of uprooting business to get their locations.”

I’m sure this won’t turn anyone off from the idea of setting up shop in our community.