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furies April 14 2011, 04:14:51 UTC
i actually live in washington heights and pay $600 a month for a very large bedroom in a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment.

it depends on where you are willing to live and how effective you are at searching. astoria in queens is more expensive than inwood right now, and there are actually nice neighborhoods in the bronx, there are nice neighborhoods in greenpoint and places further out in the brooklyn - plus, because you are in the city, your monthly travel expenses are fabulous.

however, TC is right next to columbia's main campus, which is on 120th between broadway and amsterdam. so living in the 160s/170s, which is a really nice neighborhood actually, (and washington heights) is not a long commute - at all. also, columbia graduate programs do offer some housing on 168th, though i don't know how competitive they are to get as i never tried.

i was not trying to say it would be cheaper than UIUC, but taking into consideration everything in irvine, living costs themselves might be equal. i know it's cheaper for me to live and eat in manhattan than it is for me to do that in california - because i don't need a car, i don't have to pay insurance on it, i don't need gas, and i can eat very cheaply at any time of the day or night.

depends on what you are willing to do and what you are willing to sacrifice and what you think you can do. i love the city, and i loved columbia, so it was easy for me. i just wanted to provide another view point.

::shrugs::

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roseofjuly April 14 2011, 04:57:41 UTC
I live in Washington Heights too. That's cheap for Washington Heights, although it really depends where in the Heights you live (east side vs. west side, closer to the medical center vs. farther away, etc.) Housing at the 168th St campus is very competitive, and if you are from the U.S. and don't turn your application in 2 minutes after you get it you can kind of forget it. They have poor management that leaves rooms empty even after people have showed demand for them. You also have to be a medical center student to get them - TC students aren't eligible, just like we aren't eligible for the UAH facilities. (TC actually has some pretty nice dorms on like 121st between Broadway and Amsterdam.)

I wasn't talking comparatively with California because I don't know anything about that; I was talking about the relative ease of finding something in that price range in Manhattan. I mean, they're out there, but the island's not full of them.

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