Living Off-Campus?????

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stony Brook University - SUNY
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've been looking through SBU's dorms and meal plans, but find their costs to be a little high for my budget. However, it is most likely that i will not be getting a car either. so i am left with the question, whether i should live on campus with a minimum of $500/month meal plan (according to some other posts i've seen) or in an off-campus apartment, sharing it with some roommates, and commute to SBU by public transportation. </p>

<p>last time i visited the campus, i didnt see much apartments around the campus (within walking distance), so was worried that dorming would be my only option as i'm not from the long island area. So basically, my questions are:</p>

<p>1) are there any apartments around campus within walking distance? If so, how much are their rent?</p>

<p>2) are there any apartments AT ALL in the long island area where i could commute to school without a car? If so, how much is the rent?</p>

<p>3) how safe are the public transportation (esp. their buses) to use late at night? what are the options i have if i have to stay @ the library until late? </p>

<p>these factors are very huge for me because i'm on a tight budget. As i have gotten into Binghamton as well (which seems to have better off-campus housing and lower living costs), these factors will hugely affect which i will be attending. </p>

<p>So please enlighten me! Thanks much!</p>

2

<p>Are you planning on sharing an apartment with someone else?</p>

<p>My husband and I considered the area around SB but it is EXPENSIVE like nothing else. And Apartment complexes in Long Island are more expensive then renting an apartment inside of someone elses house.</p>

<p>You are not going to find a 1 bedroom apartment for less than 1400/1500 in a complex, like Fairfield/ fairhaven, which are on the way to campus and very close by bus. </p>

<p>You can also take LIRR so you can essentially live anywhere on Long Island, the public transportation is pretty good, Bus + LIRR should get you to campus essentially from anywhere. </p>

<ol>
<li>I have no idea, i never rode a bus or LIRR in NY. Public transportation creeps me out.</li>
</ol>

3

<p>Well, there are a lot of social and convenience reasons to live on campus for at least your first year, but I can understand the budget situation. Unfortunately the cost of living on LI is definitely higher than upstate, but plenty of us do make it work.</p>

<p>Within walking distance, there are two main areas to rent in. By the South P commuter parking lot there are a lot of nice shared houses full of undergrads and grad students, and you can either walk to the middle of campus from there (~20-30 minutes) or take the shuttle bus from South P. I used to live in a shared house with a few other people about 10 minutes from South P, and my rent was $400 a month for a large bedroom with its own bathroom, in a house with a comfy living room and dining room, pretty decent kitchen, and nice backyard. The area by the train station also has a decent number of shared houses, some more divided/apartment-style and some with more shared space, and a bunch of room-for-rent situations. Walking to the middle of campus from the train station is ~10-15 minutes, and there are campus buses as well.</p>

<p>Another thing you might want to consider if you’re going to live off campus is getting a bike! I know a lot of people who are/have been quite happy biking to campus from houses and apartments in Setauket/East Setauket down 25A and in Port Jefferson Station; unless you’re comfortable biking in large quantities of snow and rain you should pick somewhere with bus access for backup but in general biking is a great way to expand your radius of potential housing and give yourself more independence than buses alone would provide.</p>

<p>It’s also pretty convenient to live somewhere a stop or two down the LIRR from Stony Brook, in Port Jefferson, St. James, etc. Downtown Port Jeff is a nice area with bars, restaurants, shops, etc., and it’s accessible to campus by bus; if you live between there and the Port Jeff train station you can commute to campus by bus or train and have easy access to the town. Many of the bus lines don’t run late at night, so the train offers more flexibility if you want to hang out on campus in the evenings or have people over who don’t have cars. My one-bedroom apartment in Port Jeff is $1200 a month (you can find some smaller one-bedrooms for a little less and share a 2 or 3 bedroom for a lot less, but I live with my girlfriend and split rent with her so the extra space and privacy was worth it); I don’t have a car and have had few problems doing everything I want to do on campus even late at night since it’s only one stop (10 minutes) on the LIRR and on several bus lines (15-30 minutes depending on traffic).</p>

<p>I’d consider the buses and trains very safe (Malishka, how on earth do you manage to live in the city without using public transportation?! LOL! I’m glad you’ve found ways to manage, I can’t imagine it). You’ll find the occasional slightly creepy/bizarre character on the bus, but it’s not like the driver can’t see what’s going on, so there’s really no danger… and sometimes you get a funny story out of the deal :slight_smile: Most of the bus drivers are really nice and it’s only $1 for students, so I really like using the buses. Trains are full of people commuting into the city if you’re going west in the morning and east at night and mostly sporadically populated otherwise, so unless middle aged guys in suits with briefcases creep you out you’ll be fine. Your personal comfort thresholds may vary, but in general I feel pretty safe on campus and the surrounding areas at night.</p>

4

<p>well, i am from california - does that explain it? I have a car btw and i never go into manhattan and i live in brooklyn for now.</p>

<p>Tell me about your 1 bedroom , what is the square footage and are you renting in a house or are you renting in a complex.</p>

5

<p>Ah, yes, being from California, having a car, and never going into Manhattan does explain it :)</p>

<p>I rent in a complex; don’t know the square-footage off-hand but I can probably rummage through my notes from when we were apartment-hunting and find it. Suffice it to say the living room area is big enough to hold a medium sized dining room table with four chairs, a desk, two large sofas, four armchairs, a large coffee-table, and still leave enough room for me to make an ass of myself doing yoga in front of the window. The bedroom is probably about 12x18.</p>

6

<p>what is the name of your complex? </p>

<p>How is the complex about safety? what about kids/families living there?</p>

<p>Does it have a website?</p>

<p>How is the closet space? </p>

<p>Do you think i should hire a realtor to find an apartment or look myself, we need to move by the end of may, and our budget is like 1200 max, we want a one bedroom, considering we live in a studio now. Do you pay for your parking space , trash, water, heat? or is it included?</p>

7

<p>I’ll PM you the name of the complex so I’m not practically splashing my address all over the internet.</p>

<p>There are definitely a few families living here, though because it’s mostly one-bedrooms there aren’t a ton. The super has some adorable kids, so I doubt the rental company is family-hostile.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t go through a realtor if you have the time and energy to look yourself, but it’s really a personal time/money calculation IMO. Since you have a car, I really don’t think you’ll have that much of an issue finding someplace decently near the university within your budget. The only problem might be the end of May deadline, since it seems the majority of leases around here start July/August/September.</p>

<p>We don’t pay for heat, parking space, water, or trash. Every apartment has a parking space, and if you have a 2nd car there’s enough guest parking that it’s not a problem.</p>

<p>Our closet space is pretty awesome. One in the bedroom and one in the living room; the one in the bedroom is big but the one in the living room is enormous (you could fit a twin bed in there, LOL).</p>

8

<p>Pseudonym,</p>

<p>Thanks much for your reply! that has definitely given me much hope, since i’ve always wanted to attend Stony Brook but was a tad disappointed by the LI’s high living costs. One question that i have is that how would i be able to find such houses that i could move in? It doesnt seem like there are much ads on craigslist (or is it just too early right now?) as of right now. are there going to be lots of ads beginning in july/august? The internet is practically the only means i can depend on to look for a room because i’m not from the nearby area. =) and i don’t know anybody who goes there, either =( </p>

<p>Once again, thanks much!</p>

9

<p>You also have our Off-Campus Housing database, but I never know how updated it is.</p>

<p>[OCH:</a> Welcome to Off Campus Housing](<a href=“http://och.fsa.sunysb.edu/]OCH:”>http://och.fsa.sunysb.edu/)</p>

<p>Chris</p>

10

<p>Good luck finding a place. Off campus is fairly common at stony brook since the food/housing is extremely expensive and quite a few internationals need a place year round. Personally, I think you do miss a lot, but it is a trade off. On campus you have a crappy living situation and low quality(but very expensive) food but a much more social and active environment and off campus you get a better quality of life(hopefully) at a cheaper price but you will definitely be less active in the school life.</p>

11

<p>Im in the same situation. Im an incoming freshman who wants to save a few pennies by living off campus. When do you think is the best time to start seriously looking for a place to live? Should I start calling now or should I wait for the summer? Also is there a lot of freshman that decide to live off campus?</p>

12

<p>Start looking ASAP–it’s never too early.</p>

<p>If last year’s numbers are any guide, a little less than 10% of next year’s first year students will live off campus. A lot of them will be living with their parents though; not so many rent off-campus apartments freshman year.</p>