Back to cities
cities
Ames
Overview
Ames is a pleasant college town in Central Iowa, sitting astride the Skunk River roughly 30 miles north of Des Moines. Life in Ames follows the ebb and flow of the academic year at Iowa State University, which is the cit
Facts
Rank
—
Coordinates
—
Source
WBP almanac
External sources
Media
From Wikipedia192 words
WBP editorial3
College town rhythm
Ames lives to the cadence of its university. The academic calendar shapes everything from the weekly farmer’s market to the rhythm of street parking. Summer brings a quieted downtown as students head home, while autumn fills campus cafés with a buzz of research seminars and literary readings. Visiting during a semester gives travellers a chance to sit in on a public lecture or attend an art exhibition at the university’s galleries, offering a glimpse of the intellectual pulse that distinguishes the city from other Midwestern locales.
Bike‑friendly layout
The city’s grid, laid out in the late 19th century, lends itself to cycling. Dedicated bike lanes connect the historic downtown with research parks and residential neighbourhoods, making it easy to explore the blend of modern labs and historic brick homes on two wheels. Renting a bike for a day reveals small attractions often missed by drivers: street‑side murals, community gardens, and the quiet charm of the Cedar River trail that winds just beyond the university campus.
Beyond the cornfields – local food scene
While the surrounding landscape is dominated by agriculture, Ames has cultivated a surprisingly diverse culinary offering. Farm‑to‑table restaurants source produce from nearby cooperatives, while the annual Harvest Celebration showcases heirloom varieties and artisan cheeses. For a low‑key evening, the downtown strip hosts pop‑up food trucks serving everything from Korean tacos to Iowa pork tenderloin sliders, reflecting a community that embraces both its rural roots and a growing multicultural palate.