Ames travel guide

Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa, about 30 miles north of Des Moines in Story County. It is the principal city of the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Story County, Iowa and which, when combined with the 'Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area', comprises the larger 'Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area'. As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 50,731. While Ames is the largest city in Story County, the county seat is in Nevada which is 8 miles east of Ames. Ames is the home of Iowa State University, with leading Engineering, Science and Agriculture colleges. It is also the site of the Ames Straw Poll, an important straw poll in the Republican party presidential nomination process (see Politics, below). (...) more....