It is largely a mindset....a product of what people are used to.
So many individuals living in and and around central Iowa come from small towns and/or suburbia and thus their habit/expectation is that parking needs to either be right in front or an attached flat lot.
If is not, the impression is "there is no parking!"
That said, this is hardly unique to Ames.
It's a perception problem. The same people who won't park in a parking lot that's 500 feet away from your traditional downtown/campustown are the same people who have no problem parking in the middle of a Target parking lot, walk 200 feet to the front door, and then another 200 feet to the back on the store.