The Ames City Council provided input to consultants on the future of downtown Ames during a special work session meeting Tuesday. Council members were asked questions regarding their vision of the city of Ames, specifically the downtown area, to refine the city’s master plan. 

The vision statement for the city’s downtown plan stated the following:

“Downtown Ames aspires to be a unique and vibrant destination to live, work, and play,” according to the plan. “As the historic focal point, Downtown Ames will serve as a hub of art, culture, retail and entertainment for the entire Ames community.”

The consultants asked members the following questions:

• How would you like to describe Downtown Ames 10 years from now?
• What would you, and believe the community, would like to experience?
• What do you see as its future?
• Do you have any concerns as we embark on this planning process, future plan implementation and how can we collaborate to overcome them together?

Student Involvement and Engagement

Mayor John Haila spoke about conversations he had with the mayor of Fargo, North Dakota and the university president of North Dakota State University on how to revitalize a downtown district in a college town.

“They just said ‘You have got to get students downtown,’” Haila said. “They are half of our residents.”

Haila also spoke on the importance of student involvement with input on the master plan.

“Participation breeds ownership,” Haila said. “Students have got to be… engaged in the process.”

Nicole Rasmussen, the senior vice president of First National Bank and a consultant to the city, shared her thoughts on ways to gather input from students, including using a QR code at events for attendees to fill out a survey. 

Ward 3 Rep. Gloria Betcher spoke more specifically on the lack of awareness by students of the existence of a downtown area in Ames. 

“There are students who don’t even know where downtown is,” Betcher said. “Getting that perception shift, I think, is important.”

Visions

Several of the members shared similar visions for a future downtown district, including asking for more development of art and entertainment, housing and hotels, retail, parking and dining options.

Ward 1 Rep. Tim Gartin spoke on features in other Iowa cities that would work in Ames, including the outdoor dining district in Iowa City. 

“[Iowa City’s] outdoor eating areas, their options are fantastic,” Gartin said. “They’ll block off streets and they’ll do just really vibrant fun things. When I’m over there, I’m like, ‘why can’t we do that here?’”

At-Large Rep. Amber Corrieri said she would love for “downtown Ames to be a place where you can spend an entire day and then some.”

“If you wanna come down to Ames in the morning for brunch or for the farmers market, you should be able to keep yourself busy with what’s available,” Corrieri said. “If you want to stay out till two in the morning or get food after the bars close at three in the morning, we should be able to offer all of that in that area.”

Concerns

Members also shared some of their concerns about the planning process and future plan implementation. Common concerns of members include the competition with Campustown, the timing of the project, financing the plan and the quality of the roads in the area.

Betcher spoke on the ways to address slowed development in the downtown area. 

“I’m hoping that our efforts will continue to streamline the processes or at least make it easier for people to do what they need to do following the process,” Betcher said. “Clear a lot of the roadblocks out of the way so these ideas can make it from the planning stage to the implementation stage and enhance downtown.” 

Ward 1 Rep. Brownyn Beatty-Hansen shared her thoughts on how to balance the competing interests of downtown Ames and Campustown. 

“We can’t pretend that we can make everybody happy,” Beatty-Hansen said. “Making [it] bikeable, walkable, pedestrian friendly while yet still having some suitable parking. Those are balancing acts that we have to address.” 

The next Ames City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ames City Hall. For more information, visit their website.