Character Zero

@manandcamel I'm familiar with both, but would love to hear any general thoughts you have!

Hi there friends. Does anyone here have particular experience with the M.F.A. program at Indiana University (Bloomington)?

You bet! I hope you find something soon that works out for you! If you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask. Ann Arbor is a great place to live--a lot to look forward to!

Yep--that sounds about right for South Campus. Burns Park is just south of the Tappan/South Campus areas so the closer you are to those areas the more undergrads or other students and Greek life you'll find. As you get farther south, and also probably farther east, you get away from that and start seeing quieter streets with bigger, expensive houses, families, etc. If you take the two maps below together, that should give you a decent idea of where Burns Park/Lower Burns Park sits relative to other neighborhoods. Housing in Ann Arbor definitely isn't cheap--it's not New York or San Francisco, but for a Midwest college town prices are pretty high! https://nextdoor.com/neighborhood/burnspark--ann-arbor--mi/ https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/UM-Neighborhoods/ I don't have any experience with Northwood graduate housing, but they do have some family or multiple bedroom options. The other graduate housing is the Munger Graduate Residences--brand new (2015) graduate housing that is incredibly nice, but for singles--each unit has 6 to 7 bedrooms (with bathrooms) and a common area. There are no windows in most of the bedrooms, though! Late August or very early September is common for a move-in date. While it would be frustrating to have to move twice, the good news is that you shouldn't have any trouble finding a temporary place to stay over the summer, and probably at a decent price--students with 12-month leases will be looking to sublet over the summer. You might be able to find earlier move-in options though--I wouldn't give up on it!

Kerrytown and Old West Side would both be great choices! A lot of grad students and young professionals live in Kerrytown--it's close to a lot of stores and coffee shops and the Ann Arbor's farmers market. You'd still be close to all of these things on the Old West Side, too. Burns Park is also very nice--closer to campus it's occupied by undergrads, but as you move south it's quieter with more families--a lot of professors live there. There aren't really any "bad" areas in Ann Arbor, though. Choosing a neighborhood depends a lot on what is important to you. If cost is a concern, for example, you might try looking a little farther from campus, around Briarwood Mall etc. (Nowhere in Ann Arbor is going to be cheap!) If fitness is important to you, check out what gyms are close (UMich gyms are IMSB, CCRB, NCRB--IMSB just got renovated, the other two need some work) or if you're a runner an apartment close to the Arboretum might be a good fit. If you're looking for quieter areas, probably best to avoid South University or Tappan neighborhoods--these areas are loud and lively, filled mostly with undergrads, sororities, fraternities. The Elbel/East Packard/Yost neighborhoods are also home to a lot of undergrads, but again, this shifts as you get farther from campus. I'm not sure about smaller places vs. apartment complexes, but you could start with CMB and J Keller Properties--both have good reputations. https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/UM-Neighborhoods/