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Briar Manor Townhouses

Price: $1,005 per month
Location: 131 Greystone Lane in Brighton

A portion of Farash Corporation's housing in south Brighton, these townhouses offer large living spaces for comparable prices to other housing in Rochester. Located right off exit 1 on I-590 and about six miles from campus, it is about a 15-minute drive from campus. You can ride your bike on trails all the way to RIT in good weather. Most students will require a cosigner in order to rent one of these townhouses. Rent is $1,005 a month for a standard unit. Units vary in layout and rent. Most units contain one master bedroom, two bedrooms, one full bath and a half bath, plus a full basement and two floors.

Quick Summary:

• Rent is $1,005 a month, but a cosigner is probably needed
• Utilities around $180 a month
• Two floors and a full basement, plenty of room for four people or more
• Some say that every townhouse comes with a mythical troll that lives in your mind

Website: http://www.farash.com/

Erie Station Village

Price: $765-$1785 per month
Location: A 5.5 mile drive from campus, just past the RIT Inn on West Henrietta Road.

Quick Summary:

• Studio from $765, one bedroom from $895, two bedroom townhomes from $1,130, three bedroom apartment for $1,365, three bedroom townhouses from $1,730 to $1,785
• Maximum of 2 people per bedroom
• There is a mandatory $15 dollar cable fee that is added to your rent every month, which gets you basic cable plus some HD channels (the major networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, plus CNN and a few others).

Pros:

• Good location (you can walk to the RIT Inn and take the shuttle if you don't want to drive).
• Built entirely in the last few years, the newest section was completed one year ago
• Really nice gym and outdoor pool
• Good floor plans. One student adds, "Nice kitchens, big closets for storing corpses of all species and size."
• Great maintenance team. According to another student, “They plow multiple times a day when it is snowing, shovel from the street to your front and back door, follow you around awkwardly as you run errands, scream sexually explicit love poems at your bedroom window, pick you up in the air randomly and without you asking them to, and respond to anything within 24 hours, in my experience. Maintenance will also replace and/or put in their mouth almost anything, including light bulbs.”

Cons:

• Expensive (though if you shove two people into each bedroom you can cut it down to around $300 a month each).
• Utilities not included
• Far from downtown Rochester

Website: http://eriestation.net

Clayton Arms

Price: Studio from $600 per month
Location: 3.5 miles from campus, across the street from the warm glow of the Henrietta Wal-Mart.

Pros:

• Responsive maintenance staff
• Pool open to residents during the season
• Convenient commute to RIT
• Near the bus line

Cons:

• Almost too easy to wander over to the 24-hour Wal-Mart across the street for whatever you happen to need — which, in one student's case, means a box of Applejacks, lube, and a copy of Along Came Polly
• Staff has a bad habit of entering your apartment without prior notice
• Laundry machines work roughly 50% of the time and cost $1.25 a load

Website: http://www.eastwoodmanagement.com/clayton

Crittenden Way Apartments

Price: $715 to $725 per month.
Location: Approximately 4.5 miles from campus, right behind Movies 10 on Crittenden Way.

They offer nine- or 12-month leases for two bedroom apartments (and one bedroom apartments may be available). Costs $715 to $725 per month for a 12-month lease. Heat and hot water are included.

Pros:

• Close to campus
• Lots of space
• Heat and hot water included
• Administration is forgiving (they have rules they don't enforce and they seem pretty lax about pets)

Cons:

• You're not allowed to double-up in rooms
• Laundry facilities suck. There is only one washer and one dryer, and both can only be used during the middle of the day. It does not fit the college student's schedule, but if you have friends living on-campus, this may not be a problem.

Renting a House

Location: All over the place

Thanks to the lackluster Rochester housing market and the 12% vacancy rate, finding an affordable house is relatively easy. Prices vary, but a nice four bedroom one bath house in the Upper Mt. Hope neighborhood could run you about $1,250 a month. Houses on East River Road, just behind UC, are generally smaller, but tend to run from $600-1,000 per month.

Pros:

• Variety of options
• Relative privacy and less concern about neighbors
• Lots of space
• Can usually have pets, barbecues, parties and garage bands

Cons:

• Older houses may mean higher heating bills
• Most landlords are looking for a 12 month lease from their tenants
• Might be far from campus
• House maintenance (e.g. lawn mowing, snow shoveling and pool cleaning)
• If you live in the 19th ward, you'll probably have your house or car broken into and your laptop stolen