Campustown Redevelopment

[Al_4_State]

Hell, Main St. in Cedar Falls is better than Ames Campustown.

Main Street in Cedar Falls would be better compared to Main Street in Ames than Campustown. Campustown should be compared to the Hill.

FWIW, I think all of these places are pretty analogous of each other.

For the record, ISU should be able to have more given the size of the student body, but it's pretty obvious to me that those places are coming, and the redevelopment of Campustown has been pretty stunning. Maybe you guys in Central Iowa get their more often and it doesn't seem as dramatic, but trust me, it's barely recognizable from 10 years ago.

 

[Playboi Carti]

Yeah, I've been to a lot of Big 12 and Big 10 towns/cities. Ames Campustown, while it was maybe charming 20 years ago, is pretty bland, boring, and somewhat dumpy.

Have you seen all the new buildings they've put up over the past couple years? I think campustown is pretty nice beside all the construction and the buildings from copy works to the US bank on Lincoln way.

 

[Messi]

Aggieville doesn't have more selection, but it's much more food and family oriented so you have better eating options and cleaner bars.

That’s fair.

 

[Al_4_State]

That’s fair.

And I think, as a 30-something alumni, I wouldn't mind seeing more of that in Campustown. Places like WAS or Es Tas, which felt very comparable to the places I went in Aggieville.

But as a college kid? Different story.

 

[Playboi Carti]

ISU campus itself is way better than Kansas State. I thought KSU aggieville had much more selection and overall better options than Welch ave/Lincoln Way. I felt KSU had nicer/cleaner bars and more bar&grill/restaurants. I love ISU but our campustown options at the moment are limited to fast casual restaurants or tired bars.

True. I wish they had more restaurants, besides Cafe B and Es Tas, it's all pizza and sandwich shops.

I'm surprised that smokin' oaks is still in business, every time I walk by it's dead. Putting that right by Jeffs and Blaze was a bad idea.

 

[50ShadesofMustard]

The problem with Ames is that the city of Ames downtown and the campus's downtown are separate. If downtown Ames was where Campustown is then it'd be a lot more diverse and not just a bar district. It's too bad they aren't within walking distance of each other.

 

[CloneFan4]

Main Street in Cedar Falls would be better compared to Main Street in Ames than Campustown. Campustown should be compared to the Hill.

FWIW, I think all of these places are pretty analogous of each other.

For the record, ISU should be able to have more given the size of the student body, but it's pretty obvious to me that those places are coming, and the redevelopment of Campustown has been pretty stunning. Maybe you guys in Central Iowa get their more often and it doesn't seem as dramatic, but trust me, it's barely recognizable from 10 years ago.

Okay if you want to go that route the hill still blows campustown out of the water.

 

[canker2323]

Hard time reading? Below I make the comment that Columbus and Ames are not comparable, but carry...
"I know Columbus and Ames are not comparable but it's interesting to see the transformation and how they took an eyesore and made it to a great area of town."

That is Ribs' schtick. He is an angry man.

 

[Al_4_State]

Okay if you want to go that route the hill still blows campustown out of the water.

You can't be serious.

There are 2-3 bars on the Hill that don't suck at any given point in time. Downtown Cedar Falls is really nice, but Campustown is better than the Hill.

 

[CloneFan4]

You can't be serious.

There are 2-3 bars on the Hill that don't suck at any given point in time. Downtown Cedar Falls is really nice, but Campustown is better than the Hill.

Without the awkward incorporation of CVS, Welch would be a complete dump. Social House on the Hill is three steps above any bar offered on Welch.

 

[Al_4_State]

Without the awkward incorporation of CVS, Welch would be a complete dump. Social House on the Hill is three steps above any bar offered on Welch.

Social House looks nice. Just checked it's website. I always remember that bar as being a crappy dance club.

Looks comparable to WAS, Es Tas, or Paddy's to me, but that porch definitely gives it an edge.

 

[CloneFan4]

Social House looks nice. Just checked it's website. I always remember that bar as being a crappy dance club.

Looks comparable to WAS, Es Tas, or Paddy's to me, but that porch definitely gives it an edge.

For whatever reason my mind immediately went to Welch and ignored the surrounding restaurants/buildings they've put in on Lincoln Way in the recent years. You were right. I'm wrong.

However, I personally would choose a night out on the hill than a night out on Welch. And yes I did graduate from our beloved University.

 

[Al_4_State]

For whatever reason my mind immediately went to Welch and ignored the surrounding restaurants/buildings they've put in on Lincoln Way in the recent years. You were right. I'm wrong.

However, I personally would choose a night out on the hill than a night out on Welch. And yes I did graduate from our beloved University.

My wife went to UNI, and I partied on the Hill plenty when we were dating. I always had a good time, but I'd take a night on Welch. Especially on the weekend. Cedar Falls clears the hell out Friday and Saturday compared to Ames.

At this stage in life, I'd rather go out downtown Cedar Falls than either the Hill or Campustown, but would rank downtown as Ames as similar to downtown Cedar Falls, with the edge being that Singlespeed is better than Olde Main or Torrent.

 

[DFWClone]

Stillwater scene is gross. I really can't imagine someone thinking it is better than what we have in Ames.

Does Ames have some gross bars? Yes. But so do all college towns. Do most of our bars have a heavy college kid atmosphere? Yes but most of the weekends in Ames, those are the only people going the bars.

Also, to the person who mentioned smokin oak going out of business, that is so sad and so true. That place had no chance. With Freddie's going in next door now, they get close to zero business.

 

[Al_4_State]

I didn't think Stillwater was gross, but a very typical midwest college town bar scene. Of course, the smoke is a bit of a turn off to most at this point, but it didn't bother me much.

Where it was similar to Ames, and how they differed from Manhattan, was that very few places were for both eating and drinking. You had mostly bars, that were just places to party, and you had a couple places that also had good food. Otherwise, you're food was all cheap college kid drunk food places, which is perfect for that crowd, but not a place to take your family.

 

[CloneFan4]

My wife went to UNI, and I partied on the Hill plenty when we were dating. I always had a good time, but I'd take a night on Welch. Especially on the weekend. Cedar Falls clears the hell out Friday and Saturday compared to Ames.

At this stage in life, I'd rather go out downtown Cedar Falls than either the Hill or Campustown, but would rank downtown as Ames as similar to downtown Cedar Falls, with the edge being that Singlespeed is better than Olde Main or Torrent.

Maybe I'm biased because Cedar Falls was the only place I could get away with my fake. Downtown is a great scene too. My favorite was Hessen Haus.

 

[JP4CY]

I didn't think Stillwater was gross, but a very typical midwest college town bar scene. Of course, the smoke is a bit of a turn off to most at this point, but it didn't bother me much.

I didn't think so either. And the smoking was shocking only because it's been so long since I've been in a smoking bar. It was like rewinding time to WAS.

I believe between the two of us, we've got new and old B12 mostly covered and a good chunk of the B1G.

 

[Playboi Carti]

Maybe I'm biased because Cedar Falls was the only place I could get away with my fake. Downtown is a great scene too. My favorite was Hessen Haus.

Fakes don't work at all in Ames, yet my buddys in Iowa City have no problem getting into a bar. It's not fair.

 

[Al_4_State]

I didn't think so either. And the smoking was shocking only because it's been so long since I've been in a smoking bar. It was like rewinding time to WAS.

I believe between the two of us, we've got new and old B12 mostly covered and a good chunk of the B1G.

I'd bet.

For the current Big 12, I've been everywhere (and partied) but OU and Tech for games. I've also either attended a game or just partied in every defector town.

For the Big 10, I've been to games at Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, but have partied in Madison and Bloomington as well.

Out of that group, Minneapolis and Ft. Worth are major cities that kind of drown their universities out, but are really nice cities. Austin, Madison, and Lincoln are the unique college town/capital/larger city mix and I would rank them in that order. Boulder is in a similar position to those in that it's really connected to a major city and has a bigger time feel.

Waco is a ******* unmitigated dump and has almost no redeeming qualities. The rest are midwest/plains college towns that are more alike than not. They really are kind of a horse a piece in my mind, and I enjoy them all.

 

[CloneFan4]

Fakes don't work at all in Ames, yet my buddys in Iowa City have no problem getting into a bar. It's not fair.

Way it was a couple years ago when I was under 21. Just need to throw your own parties.