OT MGoUndergrads/Alums High Rise vs Single Family Homes
My Daughter is a Freshman and will be leaving Mary Markley for independent living. very soon Without going into our conflict of where she should/wants to live I would like to hear your thoughts on the Pro's and Cons High Rise living vs Single Family Home life. With these projects building up ever so fast is the single family a dinosaur? I would love hear opinions from those who have lived in both dwellings or a parent like myself
February 10th, 2017 at 1:12 PM ^
One side effect of the high rises is that owners of single family homes have attempted to upgrade their properties to compete. However, I would say it's primarily a price point discussion still. The high rises cater to a more luxury crowd... personally I wouldn't trade my student ghetto basement apartment in a Kerrytown mansion for a deluxe building with a workout room for all the tea in China.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:19 PM ^
I enjoyed my ghetto basement as well - it helped that I was the only person who could figure out the sorely inadequate and falling apart HVAC system whenever something was wrong too - the decrepit aluminum wiring in some rooms too (that was a thing once - incredible). Certain home repairs have been no sweat since then.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:48 PM ^
February 10th, 2017 at 5:37 PM ^
Cost (which may be a important issue) aside for a moment, I had a hard time understanding the appeal of living outside of Ann Arbor during undergrad. I had friends who moved Lake in the Something or Other (Woods?) apartments for their 3rd and 4th year just for a better rent:amenties ratio. I felt that they missed out on college life a bit.
As far as houses are concerned (and at the risk of stating the obvious) choose your housemates carefully. One bad apple or two can make a small space unpleasant and induce claustrophobia. I saw it happen on multiple occasions and sometimes felt fortunate that I didn't have the same experience.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
"fake luxury"
February 10th, 2017 at 7:49 PM ^
February 10th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
don't live next to ricks senior year
all honesty though, i loved living in 6-7-8 bedroom houses. most of those people are my best friends to this day.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
4/5 guys standing at my wedding were guys I lived with Sr. year. About 2 blocks from Rick's.
(guy 5 was a longtime childhood friend)
February 10th, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^
I lived in the dorms for two years. I sometimes wish I'd stayed longer, and now I would in a heartbeat given how plush the dorms are these days. But if she's insistent on bailing, and I'm reading your post correctly (which, honestly, I might not be...)...
I'm not sure what you mean by "single family home," because 99% of the houses you'd rent on campus are houses subdivided into apartments, or houses in which you're renting a bedroom and share the rest of it with your housemates. The new campus highrises strike me as the kind of places the rich kids from the East Coast get their parents to rent for them, but that's just outside observation...
For my money, find a nice apartment down Kerrytown direction and put her in it. You're not going to get ripped off on a shitty place like you'd find on South Campus. I lived up there for three years and never had a problem, had great landlords, had a neighborhood with a mixture of undergrads, grad students, and real people, and never had to deal with the crap my friends did down near the stadium.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
Yeah, Kerrytown is a great value. I lived there for two years and enjoyed the hell out of it. Plus you can go to co-op parties!
I also think that living with roommates is one of the best parts of the college experience. The people I lived with in college are some of my best friends. My girlfriend lived in dorms for two years in the Residential College and has the largest and most close knit college friend group I have ever heard of.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^
In case you haven't already done so, think about this abstractly. What does your daughter want in her living environment? What would she rather avoid?
Echoing others, the location, price, and condition of the unit are what would be important here. High rises aren't the same as houses, but the approach to both should be the same.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:27 PM ^
Trying to simply get the pro's and cons for both high rise compared to "apartment homes." Many on here come from all walks. It's as simple as it's stated just looking for an opinion from those who would like to share. We are well aware of our price point ,location and can discern a dump from a nicer unit. Please don't take this as snark jsut trying to get an opinion from those who have had experience.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
In undergrad, I lived in a year each: dorm, apartment, fraternity house, off campus house in the hill neighborhood.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:23 PM ^
I mean, I broke it down when I was in school. When you factor in everything from food to housing to internet to cable to time spent doing things like cleaning (hah, but really) and such, particularly when you factor in the way dorm food has changed into basicallly a gazillion fancy choices any time you want... The dorm is not a "rip off." You can even move into a single after your freshman year if you don't want a roommate.
It may not be the coolest living experience to tell your friends about, and you do give up things like some elements of freedom and privacy, but in the long run, it's not automatically more cost-effective to live off-campus.
I mean, shit, East Quad has a gelato bar now.
February 10th, 2017 at 4:05 PM ^
THEY HAVE A WHAT NOW?!?!?! goddammit i lived in east quad my freshman year and the food was rarely good :(
February 10th, 2017 at 6:00 PM ^
the caf sucked (I'd go to South Quad for that), but the quick serve restaraunt in the bottom of East Quad was pretty good.
February 10th, 2017 at 7:11 PM ^
My kingdom for a burger and curly fries meal plan dinner from the Halfass with the RC hipsters blaring Neutral Milk Hotel over the speakers... God I loved that place. Shame it's gone.
February 10th, 2017 at 7:14 PM ^
East Quad is straight bougie now...
I don't know how to even quantify it.
February 11th, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
wow times have changed for the better!
February 10th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
and if you're a person that values your privacy a single family home is the only way to go.
I still have a noise complaint letter my wife and I received at our first apartment. It was surprisingly graphic about the volume of noise our neighbor could hear at 3am.
I'm sure none of that would ever apply to your daughter though.
February 10th, 2017 at 3:10 PM ^
humble brag... this guy fucks... we get it
i wanna hear more
February 10th, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^
February 10th, 2017 at 4:57 PM ^
I had cops come to my single family home over noise.
During the day.
At a party where the keg was of root beer.
February 10th, 2017 at 8:58 PM ^
nice! XD
February 10th, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^
Old, shitty, crumbling house with good friends like we all did.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:39 PM ^
Single family home was the fun way to go. Plus my cupboard under the stairs cost me about $200 a month.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^
I lost my virginity in an apartment in the University Towers on South U.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:54 PM ^
I did not lose my virginity there, but I did live there during my first senior year. We had a high-floor apartment overlooking Charley's, so I could always see when the line was starting to develop...and avoid getting there too early or too late.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
My girlfriend lived there. I lived in a closet-sized room in the ΑΧΣ house that year.
I probably should have moved in with her, but her dad would occasionally show up and he was a Detroit city police detective sergeant.
February 11th, 2017 at 12:33 AM ^
Dude, I saved an impossible amount of money living in the AXE house. Doubt it is still the case, but used to be that rent dropped $100 a month during the summer, and it was already half of what other places were charging.
February 11th, 2017 at 8:03 AM ^
I lived there 3 years after my first year in South Quad. I think the rent my first year was $65 a month sharing one of the rooms on the second floor with a roomate. It would have been $130 if I didn't want a roomate.
This of course was in the Neolithic period.
February 11th, 2017 at 4:23 AM ^
Living in U Towers was like living in a hotel - the wait for elevators and apartments full of neighbors that you see occasionally but never meet.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^
The houses are decent and are a decent price. I always got the impression that the high rises were for rich kids from long island, NJ, and CT. The prices on those high rises are nuts.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:54 PM ^
You can get a room in one of them for $1500 a month according to a sign I saw once posted on the Diag.
February 10th, 2017 at 1:59 PM ^
Whatever she decides, it's going to be relatively slim pickings this time of year. When I was in school most houses in good locations were leased for the following fall by November, December at the latest. Some of the apartment buildings do have vacancies open later in the school year.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:56 PM ^
People would sleep outside of a realty office to make sure they got their prime party house for next year. The craziest part was I think a lot of places start signing on October 1, so you finally move into your new house on Whatever St. and immediately you're like "Crap. Where am I gonna live next year"
February 10th, 2017 at 4:26 PM ^
Yeah, when I moved back to Ann Arbor after some time away I lived in a grad student dominated apartment complex that sent out renewal notices in October.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
Other than saying I had great experiences in apartments (not luxury) and houses while living on campus, I won't attempt to advise you there. However, I will say that the timing here is all wrong. The best houses are already signed for in October/November the year before so options are already quite limited there depending on how many friends your daughter is planning to live with.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^
February 10th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^
February 10th, 2017 at 2:13 PM ^
There were no high-rises way back in the middle ages (maybe save 1), but my best friends in life today, 25 years later, are the guys I lived with over on Kingsley. My GF from those days lived on Elm with a group of other girls in a much more run down place but they seemed not to notice it.
Remotely if, either of my kids were to goto UM, I would strongly encourage the same.
The high-rises seem like a profit-taking experience for the well-heeled parent.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:13 PM ^
February 10th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
Lived in houses my junior and senior years, with five friends. Great experiences, the most fun I had in college. Even weekly grocery shopping was fun. Incidentally, Jim Harbaugh lived at the end of our street on Packard with a couple other players, can't remember who.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^
100% agree. Best years of undergrad were spent sharing a house with 3 other guys.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
After freshman dorm life, I lived in a fraternity house for 2 years and an apartment my last year. The apartment was by far the best. It was in a 3 story building that was maybe 8 years old on Tappan south of the B-school. WIth 3 roommates, life was easy to manage and we all got along well. Landlords were a nice hippie lady and her boyfriend. Anything wrong was fixed promptly. Fraternity house had way too many distractions, well, too many people that created distractions.
My daughter lived in a sorority for a year. It was a nice house, but it was full of distractions like my fraternity. Her grades proved that. My daughter then lived in the overpriced slum houses that are chopped up into multi-room units. The house was on Packard a block or so down from Campus Corners. There were 7 girls in a house setup for 8 (assumed 2 would live in the large basement room). She loved it, but I thought it was a rip off given the price paid for the rent. The landlord was not the best at fixing things and the place looked pretty beat up when you got past the fresh coat of paint, but hey, we are talking college life. Housing takes a beating.
February 10th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
Dorms: Sounds like this may not be an option, but the new dorms are fully renovated and look quite nice even compared to my freshman year (of course they renovate the year I move out!). The meal plans are a rip-off though on a per-meal basis unless you do the unlimited plan.
High-rise:
- North Campus: I lived in The Courtyard, good quality & amenties, far cheaper than equivalent apartments on Central Campus. Definitely a bit boring as there isn't a whole lot to do on North, but the location is convenient if one is studying engineering or art & design.
- Central Campus: Excellent perks as far as living near restaurants, bars, & amentities with gym, hang-out area, laundry, parking etc. Most high-rises will do roommate matching if needed based on preferences such as noise level & whatnot. As far as price, I would recommend looking at Sterling 411 Lofts (I lived there for two years). Sterling 411 prices are far more reasonable than other Central Campus high-rises. My rent was around $800-$850 a month with 4 other roommates with utilities included. Still a bit pricey, but a far cry from $1200-$1500 a month.
House: I never lived in a house in kerrytown or south campus, but had plenty of friends that did. Definitely the cheapest option & from what I've seen/heard the most fun. In hindsight I would have chosen this option FWIW. The previous posts in this thread do a good job describing these.
Good luck with the search!
February 10th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^
but considerations change whether she is actually looking to live with a bunch of friends or not.
A crappy house (or part thereof) with a bunch of friends is almost always the best $ decision and absolutely the most fun. You learn a little about keeping an actual house running,(depending on quality of landlord) and a LOT about sharing space.
Can make a difference if she's all by heself though as that could be lonely or have security issues.
February 10th, 2017 at 3:03 PM ^
I'm not talking about the building but your daughter. Would you describe her as being slightly high maintenance and/or demanding or is she more carefree and independent? There's also the issue of perception of safety. I think the bottom line is that you get more building and amenity quality from a high rise and you get more "character" from a house or small apartment building. Some people think "quality" = boring/antiseptic and "character" = seedy.
In the high rises, everything is fairly new and it works. Common areas are more likely to be kept clean. If something breaks, you know who to call and it probably gets fixed quickly. The building is relatively secure and you don't have drunk guys creeping around in your bushes looking for a place to vomit on a Friday night. Parking (if a car is even in the equation) is more likely to be reserved, covered and secure. There are single family homes, SFH converted to apartments and small apartment buildings that are well maintained and managed and in very quiet neighborhoods, so it's not impossible to achieve a higher standard in a house or smaller apartment building, but you still will probably fall short of what you get in the high rise buildings.
Like many on here, I loved the houses/small apartment buldings that I lived in and wouldn't have traded that experience for a high rise. Then again I am the type of guy who once I moved away from home I never made my bed again and and I considered a couple of cases of empty beer bottles as a perfectly acceptable piece of furniture. I am not a post-millenial girl. Also, compared to other places I have lived, Ann Arbor is rather safe, but if I had a 19 year old daughter, I might not mind the idea of her being in a secure building.
I'll caveat all of the above with the fact that I graduated over 20 years ago and I haven't been to Ann Arbor in 10, but my guess is things are more or less the same.