Hometown: Ankeny, Iowa
Graduating Class: 400-450
Population: About 20K when I moved there, about 30K when I moved to college, almost 60K now
Ankeny was really starting to grow a lot during my childhood years, but it's stunning to see the changes each time I go back. In my (stuck in 1997) mind, Mendards is the only store on Delaware, and the big exciting thing is the new connection between 2nd Avenue and State Street that opens up a new way to drive to Des Moines.
In the last decade, I've spent maybe 30 total hours in Ankeny. Each time I visit, I'm amazed at the number of things that are so, so different and the number of things that are just like I remember them. There is so much growth in areas that I remember being cornfields, but at the same time, the older parts of town where I spent so much of time (I grew up near the old funeral home on 1st St) still seem so similar to what I remember.