Ann Arbor, MI

[Guest wolverine]

Anyone have questions about Ann Arbor or the University of Michigan? I've been here for 15 years, I'm afraid.

[Guest]

yes! i'll need a car right? and...where should i live? (i've looked on the off campus housing map on the umich website..."area 2" looks nice...) :-D you rock.

[Guest]

You'll only need a car if you want to buy groceries or leave the city of Ann Arbor. It is, strictly speaking, possible to live in Ann Arbor using only a bike and public transportation, but it takes some effort.

I assume you're talking about this map? http://www.offcampus.housing.umich.edu/lt/map.cfm

yeah, "area 2" is pretty fun. Lots of undergrads in there, a few coops, and (of course) Zingermans! Most folks will refer to this alternately as "the state street area" or "the ann/catherine area." I live in area 12 myself (aka lowertown) it's only a mile to campus, the bus is reliable, it's a nice walk, and the rents tend to be cheaper, I think. Areas 1 and 3 are also really nice (ann arbor's second-oldest neighborhood and "the old west side" respectively) and popular with grad students but can be a bit spendy.

You should check out http://umich.edu/info/ for general questions; the web site kinda sucks but there's a tremendous amount of useful information there (and the folks who maintain that site literally know everything there is to know about the U and the city).

[Guest]

thanks so much! i'm going to be a roaming bum for the summer so i'm thinking as soon as my lease is up here at the end of april i'll go out to ann arbor and sign a lease for the fall - assuming that housing (good housing at least) goes pretty quickly?

[Guest John]

How about the expenses. could u pls give me an idea about the cost of living in ann arbor. thanks

[Guest waiting234]

heh - i know the answer to that is rent is expensive :-/ i found this website from umich that is really nice: http://www.offcampus.housing.umich.edu/lt/

[Guest dym]

say, if i go to Umich this fall, when should I start to look for housing?

[Guest Guest]

Start looking now. You are competing with undergrads. It is worth the extra money to live within walking distance of campus. Be prepared to visit a number of dumps before you find an acceptable home.

[Guest Housingquest]

Is craigslist.com a reliable source to use for housing? I have used it with wonderful results in finding a place and roommates here in Berkeley, but I will most likely be going to UMich and will be looking for housing soon. When is the best time to start looking? What area would be the best to look in. What is the best way to go about looking when you can't actually visit right away? I will be a graduate in Biomedical Engineering. And anyother pointers would be great, such as car or no car, furnished or not, roomate or no roomate, which is cheaper. Thank you for any and all help.

[Guest herealready]

Start with the University's off campus housing website, http://www.offcampus.housing.umich.edu/ ... stings.cfm Expect to pay between $700-800 a month for a one bedroom. You can pay less if you are willing to take a room in a group house or to look for a roommate. Pay attention to whether or not the rent includes heat or other utilities -- heat can be very expensive here.

One option might be the University-owned Northwood Family Housing Complex. The name is deceptive; single students can also get units there. However, they are institutional and not at all convenient to Central Campus. I'd strongly advise you to look off campus for better facilities and a better deal.

Leasing season starts in October or November, when big groups of undergrads sign leases. However, it's the big houses with many bedrooms, where 6-8 or more undergrads live together, that go first. You can still find one and two bedroom apartments in the summer; I did. However, the earlier you look, the more options you will have. Start as soon as you can. Michigan law requires you (or a representative) to inspect the property before you can sign a lease, so you won't be able to lease over the phone -- you do need to actually be in Ann Arbor at some point.

[Guest Shriram]

Hi!

Can anyone throw some light on life in the town? How is it like both on/off campus? Thanks

[Guest dymm]

Hi!

Can anyone throw some light on life in the town? How is it like both on/off campus? Thanks

I went there for a visit and I liked it. A lot more peaceful than many places I've been.

[ollie cromwell]

I'm headed to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a visit weekend.

Anything I should be sure to check out? I'm more concerned with interesting places for people that live there as opposed to tourist attractions.

[Yem2808]

if you get a chance, walk to the kerrytown area (the area roughly north of catherine, east of main, and west of division). theres some nice shops and a farmers market -- though i have no idea how active it will be given how cold the weather is. just south of kerrytown is the general downtown area, which is also fun to stroll through.

if it weren't so cold i would suggest nichols arboretum, which is absolutely beautiful to walk through. if you end up going to michigan in the fall, definitely do that.

try arbor brewing company (washington & main st. area) or ashleys (on state st., just across from the diag) if you want to grab a drink. they are the more classy bars that arent overrun with undergrads (though if you want undergrad hangouts, there is certainly no shortage of those either!)

if you like breakfast, its worth making the trip to angelos on catherine just east of glen (near the hospital) -- its hands down the best breakfast ive ever had! get there early though, there's usually a lineup (though u-m is on spring break right now so it will probably less crowded than usual)

the big house is being renovated right now, so i have no clue if it is open to the public or not, but if youre at all interested, drive down to that area and try taking a peek inside if you can. if you're driving, street parking is free on sundays, and if you get there early enough before all the students return on spring break, you shouldnt have trouble finding a parking spot.

my boyfriend is a current grad student at u-m, and we both did undergrad there, so i know the place inside & out. if you want any restaurant suggestions or have any questions about u-m or ann arbor, please ask!

[skchetu]

Hi Katellis,

I've got an admit for PhD in Biophysics at UMich...I'll be heading to Ann Arbor in mid August...So how good is Ann Arbor for spending 5 years or more??Also I've heard a lot about its severe winter..Could you please tell me more about the city, cost of living etc..Btw I'm an International student..

[polisciapp]

if you like breakfast, its worth making the trip to angelos on catherine just east of glen (near the hospital) -- its hands down the best breakfast ive ever had! get there early though, there's usually a lineup (though u-m is on spring break right now so it will probably less crowded than usual)

I disagree with this. I think Angelos is grossly overrated. I would head over to "Afternoon Delight" on E. Liberty. It has the best cinnamon french toast in town. There is another breakfast joint on main called "The Broken Egg," which I like a lot.

Other than that, make a trip through the law quad and check out the law library. Both are very cool. In terms of living, it depends what you want to do. You can live almost anywhere--it's cheaper to live in a neighboring town, such as Yipsilanti, though. Most undergrads live close to campus. I'm not sure where all the grad students live, but lots of law students live in houses or apartments just a little farther from campus. I would recommend living as close to campus as you can reasonably afford since the winter walks outside are killer. Anywhere within a several block radius should do it. Driving in AA sucks because there is nowhere to park on campus--unless you finagle a pass, somehow.

[Yem2808]

Hi Katellis,

I've got an admit for PhD in Biophysics at UMich...I'll be heading to Ann Arbor in mid August...So how good is Ann Arbor for spending 5 years or more??Also I've heard a lot about its severe winter..Could you please tell me more about the city, cost of living etc..Btw I'm an International student..

ann arbor is a great college town -- there are a LOT of students, but its not completely run by undergrads. there are a lot of grad students and young professionals too. really, theres something for everyone. most people in ann arbor absolutely love it.

one of the biggest complaints is the winter weather, i dont think you can ever completely get used to it, but you learn to live with it. on the flip side, the summers are beautiful. just pack a lot of warm clothes to get you through the winter and you'll be fine.

cost of living is higher than most other midwest college towns (i.e. bloomington, urbana-champaign) but lower than a big city. i think its doable on a grad student stipend, my boyfriend manages fine. also, rent gets cheaper the farther you get away from campus (and the apartments get a lot nicer as you go farther away as well!) so if you dont mind taking a bus or driving to campus, you can save a little money by living farther out.

[sashababie]

katellis hi, this is very valuable info thank you so much, if you don't mind I'd like to ask a couple of more questions If I'm planning to commute (by bus) to class just so I can get nicer living quarters, which areas would you suggest? I was considering living even further out and drive, but after seeing several people comment on the impossibility of parking on campus (and the trouble of maintaining a vehicle) I've given that up. Right now I'm getting so worried the desirable places will be snapped up before fall matriculation that I'm seriously contemplating heading out in April or May to look at prospectives :cry: Also, would a stipend of roughly 1,500/month be suitable for AA COL? If not I'm going to have to dig into those savings :evil:

[pteropus]

Hi all,

Anyone have opinions on the co-ops? I know they can have varying characters/ reputations. I will likely be joining the EEB department at Umich in August and co-ops might offer the cheapest living situation. Thanks

Emily

[Yem2808]

Hi all,

Anyone have opinions on the co-ops? I know they can have varying characters/ reputations. I will likely be joining the EEB department at Umich in August and co-ops might offer the cheapest living situation. Thanks

Emily

i can't say much about co-ops as i never lived in one. but you are absolutely right that they have varying reputations. i would strongly advise you to visit several before you sign a lease on one. most have a reputation for being places where not a lot of studying gets done, which is not good for a grad student. however, there is a new-ish (just started last year) all grad student co-op (the former jones house), so that might be an option.

[Yem2808]

sashababie said:

katellis hi, this is very valuable info thank you so much, if you don't mind I'd like to ask a couple of more questions If I'm planning to commute (by bus) to class just so I can get nicer living quarters, which areas would you suggest? I was considering living even further out and drive, but after seeing several people comment on the impossibility of parking on campus (and the trouble of maintaining a vehicle) I've given that up. Right now I'm getting so worried the desirable places will be snapped up before fall matriculation that I'm seriously contemplating heading out in April or May to look at prospectives ? Also, would a stipend of roughly 1,500/month be suitable for AA COL? If not I'm going to have to dig into those savings :evil:

i think a stipend of 1,500 would be fine in ann arbor (ill be getting a *lot* lower stipend next year in a city with an even higher COL! ), especially if you live further off campus. i don't know much about specific apartment complexes (i always lived on campus so never looked further out), but check out http://www.arborweb.com/apartmentsindex.html -- in the middle of the page there is a drop-down menu where you can click "outer ann arbor apartments" and there is a pretty good listing there. just make sure you get something with a bus stop nearby if you are planning on riding the bus!

also, parking is not impossible (though it may be a bit of a headache from time to time). you can definitely get a parking pass as a graduate student -- i dont know what program you'll be entering, but there are parking structures scattered throughout campus. though the environmentalist in me would recommend using public transit as much as possible ? , dont think that driving is not an option.

[shima]

Would you please tell me more about travelling from Ann Arbor to New York? Is it easy to go with airplane? Is there any transportation for that? Is airport far from Ann Arbor?

[sashababie]

shima you can get to the Detroit airport (DTW) under an hour from AA, and the flight is 2 hrs approximately, I looked it up already because I'm probably going to do long-D with my boyfriend in NYC, boo... :cry: And don't worry about getting to the airport, I think there is an airport shuttle, and I'm sure there will be other options too.

And yeah katellis, I'm ready to accept their offer, the other incoming decisions from other schools isn't going to make a difference. Where will you be heading?

[Yem2808]

i'm going to the university of maryland. a far cry from ann arbor, but im excited nonetheless. go terps!

[sashababie]

katellis I always love it when people are excited about their prospective schools, it just seems so fulfilling

And shima I really can't envy you enough, my boyfriend received an offer from UM too but opted to go to Columbia instead, I'm not doing too good with the long-d adjustments (he's leaving our home-country very soon in May for the summer semester) and thankfully his M.S. takes only a year, hopefully he'll work in a more accessible city then :evil: As for housing, I've been doing a lot of research, it seems that you could look for places around North Campus, please correct me if I'm wrong :oops: