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We recently were at the Gilbert city hall and saw some interesting maps and data that had been provided by the Story County Assessor's Office. The best way to view the material would be to go to city hall and look at the large maps. But taking a trip to Main Street isn't always convenient, so we have talked to the county staff about our experimenting with putting the maps on the Gazette. In our opinion, the most interesting map is the one that shows changes in property ownership within Gilbert. According to the text on the map, "This information illustrates properties that have an instrument number for the five years listed. Some of the properties have changed ownership more than once during that time period."
We were amazed to see on the map just how many properties in Gilbert have changed hands in the last five years. We've always thought it was paramount that the city think about how to reach out to newcomers in the new homes in the south part of town, but it seems equally important to think about how new residents in other parts of the town are welcomed and made to feel a part of the community. Another map is almost as amazing as the first one. It shows the general price category paid for each of 27 residential properties in Gilbert during 2002-2003. We suspect that Gilbert old-timers would be plenty surprised to see a price tag of over $300,000 for a home in their town or even a price tag of over $200,000. Come to think of it, some of us who have moved here in the last two decades might be just as surprised. If you want to find out the specific price tag and related information for a home, go to the county assessor's interactive property information site. We have posted the maps in four sizes. If your Internet connection is a good one, we recommend you download one of the larger files since the detail will show up better. But on the other hand, you may wish to start with a small version to see the whole layout before opening a larger file. Eventually, we will arrange to post more material of this nature on the Gazette. In the meantime, if you have feedback that we could use to improve this page and access to these maps and data, please let us know.
In terms of credit: "The map was originated in the Story County Assessor's Office. It was created with Story County's GIS (Geographical Information System) which is jointly funded by the Story County Assessor's Office and the City of Ames Assessor's Office." Click here for a PDF file
of an email letter that Richard Horn, the Ames City Assessor, sent us
that tells about the development of the GIS services by his office and
that of the county assessor. |
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| Story County Assessor's Office 382-7320 | |||||||||||||
