As you can probably tell by my username, I used to live right by the stadium. Up to a point, I agree with all of you and am a little disappointed about some of the changes being made to the tailgating scene (especially the proposal about eliminating sidewalk vendors, which was pretty much a blatant cash grab for the university). I was a renter, not an owner, and I do find it odd when people complain about being close to stadium that's been there (in most cases) longer than their houses have been standing.
But-- Things got pretty out of control over the last five or six years... I would say from 2004-2009, which I believe is when the Olive Court lot closed. Tailgating has always been big at Iowa, but when you combine it with the success we started having on the field, things just got to an insane level. I had more than my fair share of people peeing on my house, which isn't ideal but I could live with it. My bigger concern was people wandering into the house or trying to force their way in, which happened a couple of times, and people passing out in the lawn/backyard. Honestly, I think if things had continued the way they were going it was only going to be a matter of time before a kid died while tailgating, getting way too drunk, passing out in someone's yard, and then getting left behind during the game.
I also remember being very concerned in '07 (I think), when they went to that stupid paper ticketing system for the students. Yes, that was a mistake by the university, but what made it awful was that there were about 5,000 enormously drunk students crushing against one gate to get into the first big game of the year. I honestly felt like it was turning into one of those fatal stampedes like you read about in English soccer.
Let's be honest-- if people weren't getting waaaaay too drunk before games, students and adults alike, some of these changes might have been avoided. I've never gotten that messed up on a game day, but have looked the other way when some of my buddies did, so I was as much a part of the problem as anyone, I guess. I hate the loss of the some of the great tailgating lots around the stadium, but if it means that people have a 20-30 minute walk to sober up on the way to the game, then I can live with it. At the end of the day, you're there to see a football game, and if you want to get obliterated out of your mind, head to the ped mall or stay home.