Ann Arbor, MI

[pachel]

Bump. This is a less tangible question that something like housing or neighborhoods, but I've heard people talk about Ann Arbor and the students as basically "hippies with money", predominately white upperclass kinda snobby liberals, not a lot of diversity. Is this true? (no offense intended, just what I've heard!) I'm pretty liberal myself, but my undergrad was a lot like that and I'd prefer not to go back to the same.

[Vincenzo Salvatore]

Bump. This is a less tangible question that something like housing or neighborhoods, but I've heard people talk about Ann Arbor and the students as basically "hippies with money", predominately white upperclass kinda snobby liberals, not a lot of diversity. Is this true? (no offense intended, just what I've heard!) I'm pretty liberal myself, but my undergrad was a lot like that and I'd prefer not to go back to the same.

 

UMich has 45.000 students. You get pretty much every type on the planet. There are proably more non-WASP than everywhere else in the Midwest (and my guess is that there are more non-WASP than WASP, period). As an European white male, I can say I was pretty surprised by the social and ethnic variety of the university. And obviously this diversity is even higher among graduate students.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Vincenzo Salvatore

[practical cat]

Bump. This is a less tangible question that something like housing or neighborhoods, but I've heard people talk about Ann Arbor and the students as basically "hippies with money", predominately white upperclass kinda snobby liberals, not a lot of diversity. Is this true? (no offense intended, just what I've heard!) I'm pretty liberal myself, but my undergrad was a lot like that and I'd prefer not to go back to the same.

http://michigandaily.com/opinion/10viewpoint-being-black-ann-arbor02

I don't think it's all that different from any other college town in the US but, yeah, it's pretty white and upperclass.

[repentwalpurgis]

Bump. This is a less tangible question that something like housing or neighborhoods, but I've heard people talk about Ann Arbor and the students as basically "hippies with money", predominately white upperclass kinda snobby liberals, not a lot of diversity. Is this true? (no offense intended, just what I've heard!) I'm pretty liberal myself, but my undergrad was a lot like that and I'd prefer not to go back to the same.

Here's the thing.  Ann Arbor has gone through a lot of changes in the past few decades; it was once even more "crunchy" than it today, and a lot of the wealth in the city has contributed to some unoriginal changes and I'd say it's a less carefree place than it used to be.  Coupled with the fact that there is definitely some large percent of white upper-class (and you're right, kinda snobby) liberals, that doesn't knock what's already been said - it's still a wonderfully ethnic and diverse place to be.  I'd say that what might be of some annoyance are those that seem to hang on to that once crunchier environment...but really came from some suburban middle class background.  It's just a different place now, that's seen a lot of changes (we recently saw one of the best bookstores in town shut down to be replaced by a burger joint, the original Borders is a cemetery basically, etc). 

But that doesn't erase the fact that if you are attending UM, you're at one of the most incredible institutions in the world, and it really is still quite diverse.  I wouldn't let it sway your choice of environment.

[katethekitcat]

I'll be attending the University of Michigan come fall. I'm looking for a neighborhood where a.) I can pay a maximum of $400 for rent (I currently pay less than that in Chicago, so I feel this should be possible...right?) - this is, of course, with roommates - b.) I'm close enough to campus to walk and have access to a grocery store, as I am unlikely to have a car. Recommendations of where to look?

[CanRes]

Which campus will you be at?

 

If you will be at north campus you may want to check out the northwood apartments.  There is a Kroger easily in walking distance, as well as a handful of other places to eat and random stores.  It may be a little difficult to walk to other campuses from these apartments.  However, north campus and all other campuses are connected by blue bus (totally free without a bus pass), and these buses come very frequently (every 5 minutes during the semesters I think), even in summer it is still quick, but a little bit slower.

 

See this google maps link for an approximate area of the store and the apartments in question (south of said kroger).

 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ann+arbor&hl=en&ll=42.303373,-83.705864&spn=0.015045,0.030556&sll=42.748946,-84.47619&sspn=0.239004,0.488892&hnear=Ann+Arbor,+Washtenaw,+Michigan&t=h&z=15

 

I don't know how much those apartments would cost with a roommate, but I have a friend who had a pretty positive experience living there.

Edited January 9, 2014 by CanRes

[newms]

I'll be attending the University of Michigan come fall. I'm looking for a neighborhood where a.) I can pay a maximum of $400 for rent (I currently pay less than that in Chicago, so I feel this should be possible...right?) - this is, of course, with roommates - b.) I'm close enough to campus to walk and have access to a grocery store, as I am unlikely to have a car. Recommendations of where to look?

The SPH buildings are on Central Campus but I've known people who are in SPH and live on Northwood - it's UM's on campus grad student housing, and take the school bus to Central. This is very doable (it's about a 15 min travel between campuses by bus). I don't live near Central myself, so I'm not very familiar with housing options there, but I don't see a lot of complexes - mainly houses where students rent rooms. I think $400 should be doable - you'll definitely need roommates. I haven't tried https://offcampushousing.umich.edu/ before, but it looks like an option. One thing to keep in mind is that there isn't a big grocery store within walking distance of Central Campus, but there is the Kroger on North Campus as CanRes mentions. People who live on Central and don't have a car tend to take the bus when grocery shopping. 

Edited January 14, 2014 by newms

[NuclearFlea]

Anyone have experience buying a home in Ann arbor?  I am from the south and I am interested in living in a quieter setting outside the city limits.  Is this feasible?  Is it possible to drive to campus in the winter or will I be snowed in?

[talpostal]

Anyone have experience buying a home in Ann arbor?  I am from the south and I am interested in living in a quieter setting outside the city limits.  Is this feasible?  Is it possible to drive to campus in the winter or will I be snowed in?

 

I don't have any experience buying a home so I can't help you there.

 

You'll find that things quickly get cheaper the farther you move out of Ann Arbor so I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to find a house if money wasn't an issue. Will you get completely snowed in during the winter? Probably not, we only get buried in snow two or three times per winter on average and even then cities are well-equipped for handling snow so driving is usually possible (but also slow and dangerous if you're not in a truck or used to it). That being said, like any college town parking in Ann Arbor is horrible so if you don't have a parking pass or a leased spot that may be an imposition unto itself.

 

That being said, my favorite part of Ann Arbor is how walkable it is so I would like to encourage you to explore finding a place to live that's reasonably close to downtown. In my experience the Ann Arbor housing scene is reasonably segregated between undergrads, graduate students, and adults so if you don't want raging parties on your block every weekend it's not too hard to find a quieter neighborhood.

[irie_anthro_]

Hello everybody,

I am an international student who most probably will move in AA around mid-August.
I have a couple of questions in mind, some of them were already replied before in this topic, yet I think an update would do no harm.
My questions are mostly about financing and life ın AA. I am listing them below, as I think it is more practical this way.

1-- My annual (meaning 9 months) stipend is $19.5k, which so far seems an ok amount, especially as I am willing to share a flat. My dept is in central campus, and I don't drive (I can yet I choose not to). So I should live within walking distance I guess. Can someone  give an estimate amount that I would need to pay for rent/room plus bills? Also which areas are better to live if you are a mid-late 20 grad student, I really do not want to end up in an undergrad neighborhood?

 

2-- Is there any international students out there? How are planning to deal with signing the lease thing? It is advised in this topic- for many times- that one should not leave finding a room to the last mins. Yet is it safe to sign a lease and pay the deposit before actually seeing the place? Or should I say, do people do that? 

3-- U of M has a huge number of undergrads, which feels a bit scary as the town may turn out to be a very undergrad dominated place, any ideas?

4-- Grad life is very intense as far I could see in terms of the hours one should spend in the lib, yet during the small amount of free time one gets, where should she/he hang out? Grad bars? Cafes? I am just trying to see how life will be like in AA for the next couple of years. 

I hope I did not come across like I hate undergrads, I am just not an undergrad now (haven't been one for a while), and - this can easily be my prejudice against US college towns, you know, movies and TV shows etc- I think it would be nice to see what other grads think of the town.

Thanx in advance. 

[beyondaboundary]

Irie_anthro

 

I'm an international student set on moving to A2 in August also. These links should get you started: http://www.quora.com/Ann-Arbor-MI

http://www.damnarbor.com/ and the off campus housing link: https://offcampushousing.umich.edu/property/rental

 

PM me if you want to speak more specifically about anything.

 

PS: from your screen name are you West Indian?

[newms]

 

2-- Is there any international students out there? How are planning to deal with signing the lease thing? It is advised in this topic- for many times- that one should not leave finding a room to the last mins. Yet is it safe to sign a lease and pay the deposit before actually seeing the place? Or should I say, do people do that? 

3-- U of M has a huge number of undergrads, which feels a bit scary as the town may turn out to be a very undergrad dominated place, any ideas?

 

2) I am an international grad student here and when I moved I had signed my lease and scanned and emailed it. I think most places have some way of dealing with this issue, since there are so many international students here.

 

3) The town isn't dominated by undergrads, especially not in the summer months. You'll be able to find many quiet spots away from the 'party scene'. Just avoid living in a place(house/apt etc) that has a lot of undergrads and you'll be fine.

[irie_anthro_]

beyondaboundary and newms, thank you both for your replies. 
 

[thedck]

Hi all,

 

I'm likely moving to Ann Arbor for this coming Fall semester. I'll be a grad student in the English department. I'm moving with my wife from Philadelphia. I have been lurking around this thread so far, and am hoping to get a little more info. I'm looking for at least a 2br, perferably not in an apartment complex, and preferably under 1k (but I can stretch that). We both drive, so that won't be a huge issue. I've read that places like Kerrytown are good to look at, northeast and southeast, west liberty, and old west are all areas to check out. I don't really know what those neighborhood names mean just yet, so sorry if I got that stuff wrong. Anyway, I think we want to avoid the undergrad-heavy areas. I'm not really sure where my classes will be just yet in terms of which campus, it seems North Campus is common for grad students. I guess I'm looking for some suggestions for quieter, more affordable areas. It sounds like I'd be looking a bit further out from the city, which would be OK, depending on how far.

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

[beyondaboundary]

Hi all,

 

I'm likely moving to Ann Arbor for this coming Fall semester. I'll be a grad student in the English department. I'm moving with my wife from Philadelphia. I have been lurking around this thread so far, and am hoping to get a little more info. I'm looking for at least a 2br, perferably not in an apartment complex, and preferably under 1k (but I can stretch that). We both drive, so that won't be a huge issue. I've read that places like Kerrytown are good to look at, northeast and southeast, west liberty, and old west are all areas to check out. I don't really know what those neighborhood names mean just yet, so sorry if I got that stuff wrong. Anyway, I think we want to avoid the undergrad-heavy areas. I'm not really sure where my classes will be just yet in terms of which campus, it seems North Campus is common for grad students. I guess I'm looking for some suggestions for quieter, more affordable areas. It sounds like I'd be looking a bit further out from the city, which would be OK, depending on how far.

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

Looks like you'll be on the Central campus. I found the off campus housing link to be truly useful: https://offcampushou...property/rental

[talpostal]

Hi all,

 

I'm likely moving to Ann Arbor for this coming Fall semester. I'll be a grad student in the English department. I'm moving with my wife from Philadelphia. I have been lurking around this thread so far, and am hoping to get a little more info. I'm looking for at least a 2br, perferably not in an apartment complex, and preferably under 1k (but I can stretch that). We both drive, so that won't be a huge issue. I've read that places like Kerrytown are good to look at, northeast and southeast, west liberty, and old west are all areas to check out. I don't really know what those neighborhood names mean just yet, so sorry if I got that stuff wrong. Anyway, I think we want to avoid the undergrad-heavy areas. I'm not really sure where my classes will be just yet in terms of which campus, it seems North Campus is common for grad students. I guess I'm looking for some suggestions for quieter, more affordable areas. It sounds like I'd be looking a bit further out from the city, which would be OK, depending on how far.

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

North Campus is architecture, music, and engineering so I do not expect that you would be having classes there. I recommend that people try and find housing close to Central Campus because Ann Arbor is great when everything is walkable, but 2 bedrooms for under 1k total is going to be hard to find. As a rule of thumb, I feel like anything within walking distance is going to be in the $550-$600 per person range. As you may have seen, though, if you're willing to drive (or live on north campus) things will get cheaper very quickly. I would definitely recommend paying extra to live where you can walk to downtown, though. It's definitely worth it.

[microarray]

What's the best resource to look for housing? Craigslist seems saturated with ads for those huge apartment complex. I'm looking to rent a duplex/condo/house (at least a 2 bedroom) ~4 miles from campus.

[cmliu]

Hello guys,

 

Is a monthly stipend of $2300 good enough for me and my wife to live in AA?

Suppose around $1000~$1200 for rent.

 

Thanks a lot

[deleonj]

Looks like you'll be on the Central campus. I found the off campus housing link to be truly useful: https://offcampushou...property/rental

I see you've accepted for Michigan's Comm program. I'll (most likely) be in their Screen Arts & Cultures program. I'll be one floor above you in North Quad! Just thought I'd say hi

 

Also: I've looked into a few studios around the northern edge of campus, and I've heard from a few landlords that they are posting their available rentals for Fall 2014 around Easter. That's when craigslist will likely be awash in posts.

 

Coming from NYC, I am absolutely thrilled that the bus system is free to UMich students. I can't wait to do away with my $112 monthly subway pass.

[newms]

Hello guys,

 

Is a monthly stipend of $2300 good enough for me and my wife to live in AA?

Suppose around $1000~$1200 for rent.

 

Thanks a lot

 

Yes, it's enough to get by and you'll need to budget well. My wife and I get by on my stipend alone, but my rent is <800.

[cmliu]

Yes, it's enough to get by and you'll need to budget well. My wife and I get by on my stipend alone, but my rent is <800.

 

Thanks for your reply. May I ask if your 800 rent covers other bills like water and electricity?

I hope all can be covered by my 1000~1200 budget.

[newms]

Thanks for your reply. May I ask if your 800 rent covers other bills like water and electricity?

I hope all can be covered by my 1000~1200 budget.

It only covers water. I spend more on heat than on electricity in the winter, but at worse, my combined heat + electricity is less than 150.

[djp2]

Would it be hard to find a nice Kerrytown apartment in late March? I've heard that sooner is better, but I won't be able to get to Ann Arbor until the end of the month.

Aside from Kerrytown (which it seems everyone agrees is great for grad students) and maybe the Old West Side, are there other neighbourhoods I should be looking at? It's a bit confusing when just staring at a map. My needs are pretty modest, but I'd prefer a nicer studio or 1-bedroom with off street parking for no more than $1000. Is this realistic, assuming I also want to be close to shops and central campus? And if anyone happens to be moving next fall and is leaving behind a great place, I'd love to hear about it!

[irie_anthro_]

I (again) have an international student question (meaning this might come as very obvious to some). I wonder if the stipends we get to live are taxable? Going over the the cost of living in Ann Arbor, I realized every penny I get is very valuable. 

[newms]

I (again) have an international student question (meaning this might come as very obvious to some). I wonder if the stipends we get to live are taxable? Going over the the cost of living in Ann Arbor, I realized every penny I get is very valuable. 

Yes our stipend is taxable - its been my experience that the University withholds around $350 in federal and state taxes per month - that's the bad news. The good news about this is that when it comes to filing taxes at tax time, I'm usually due a refund of a few hundred dollars.