It’s my understanding there’s a huge waitlist for the on campus graduate housing.
What are some good places near main campus?
I’ve heard of a few in east hyde that are real nice, but are a 25-30 minute walk. How often do the campus buses make their routes? Are there any heavily grad student populated buildings that aren’t on the uchicago on campus list?
Thanks.
Hyde Park is chock full of attractive housing appropriate for graduate students, at all price levels. There is hardly any on-campus graduate housing because (a) they have been appropriating it to expand on-campus undergraduate housing, and (b) it’s really unnecessary. Look at a map. If you are not physically disabled, you would have to be in the middle of Lake Michigan to have a 30 minute walk to the main campus from the east. There are some luxury high-rises along the lake that are a little farther north, and maybe they are a 25-30 minute walk, but they have their own shuttle bus service to campus, and if you can afford to live there you probably have a car, too, and an on-campus parking space.
Hyde Park has tons of small apartment buildings and huge houses that have been broken up into flats. One company, Mac Properties, probably controls 60-70% of the rental market. People don’t love it as a landlord, but it’s certainly configured to rent to UChicago students, graduate and undergraduate. That’s approximately its entire business. Realistically, that’s where you are most likely to find an apartment if you are coming into the community cold. If you stay more than a year, you will get into the flow and maybe find someplace you like more. Most of the leases are 12-month leases starting in June.
I think it’s probably easier to find value looking with 2-4 people than trying to find an apartment for one. (My impression, which may be wrong, is that most of the one-person apartments are either very expensive or very scuzzy.) Maybe your department can help you get in touch with other incoming students, or existing students looking to replace one departed roommate. You can also often get one-quarter rentals from people who will be away short-term – especially during the summer, but also during the academic year when lots of undergraduates go for study abroad. People who travel light and don’t mind moving around can get amazing deals by subletting rooms quarter by quarter.
Lots of graduate students live outside Hyde Park, too. When my son was in graduate school, he was living in the South Loop, with a number of other UChicago graduate students, all of them taking the bus or riding bikes down to the University. In general, graduate students are adults, and very few adults live within a block or two of where they work.