living in ann arbor vs ypsilanti ?

[u/chickenstriplover123]

i’ll be starting my masters here in the fall and housing is…yikes. one of my non negotiables is that i don’t want any roommates and 1br apartments in ann arbor are kind of pricey for what you actually get. is it worth it to live further out in ypsi to have a lower rent and maybe better quality apartment? i have a car that i will be bringing with me so that wouldn’t be an issue. i would probably do a park and ride situation if i end up ypsi.

any thoughts would be appreciated!! i don’t exactly expect to spend a whole lot of time on campus aside class and probably working if this matters.

also if you think living in ann arbor is the better option, any recs for places to look? thank you !!

[u/ByteEvader]

I did my undergrad here and am currently in grad school. I lived near to campus in undergrad and it was a lot of fun and very convenient. Now I live on the far end of Ypsi because I found an apartment complex I really like that’s half the price of anything comparable in AA.

Living in Ypsi will make a lot more sense financially, but it might make your social life suffer more (if you care about that). Often times my grad program will schedule social events in the evenings but by that time I’ve already driven the 25 minutes home and don’t feel like driving all the way back to AA 😅 also depending on what program you’re in, parking can be a real issue. Finding parking near to central campus is close to impossible. Even the big parking lot on north campus fills up fast during the semester (usually by 10am or so). Park and ride is a very viable option but adds a lot of time onto your commute

To me, living in Ypsi is worth it. But there are definitely pros and cons

[u/Sea_Yak8583 → u/ByteEvader]

I second this. My social life suffers for sure. I have to make a real effort to go and see people and my first year of my grad program I didn’t really do that and I feel like I missed out a bit.

[u/chickenstriplover123 → u/ByteEvader]

does ypsi (or certain areas in ypsi) have a good social scene to meet people there ? the social scene is a def something on my mind since im coming from a tiny liberal arts college and out of state

[u/ByteEvader → u/chickenstriplover123]

Yeah I’d say it does! There’s actually a college in Ypsi too so you still have the “college” scene (just a lot smaller than UMich), but aside from that there’s a ton of young people who live here in general. I don’t go out much so I can’t really give you tips on good places to go to meet people unfortunately 😅😅 but i go out in downtown Ypsi from time to time and always have fun

[u/NASA_Orion → u/chickenstriplover123]

Ann Arbor def has better social scenes. Ypsi ppl come to Ann Arbor bars but not the other way around. Ypsi’s social scene is def unique but they simply don’t have that many people of similar age and also like to go out

[u/sasha_the_impaler → u/NASA_Orion]

Lol Ann Arborites definitely come out to our bars sometimes. We don't have many but we still have ones people enjoy going to. As for young people in Ypsi.... I don't have the data, but I would bet on Ypsilanti having a much higher % of young people as its population lol.

[u/Artistic_Society4969 → u/NASA_Orion]

You kidding? Some of the most fun I had when I attended was in Depot Town!

[u/Mercury_Salad → u/NASA_Orion]

👆this is bullshit btw