When looking on to the next year, the housing choices at Syracuse are endless. It’s time to decide if you want to stay in a residence hall again or branch off into more independent living. As Community Ambassadors for South Campus and Off-Campus, we are here to give you all the pros to living more independently.

South Campus is located about a mile south of main campus and has many perks. For starters, Goldstein Student Center houses a small grocery store, laundry, and a food court, including Dunkin’s Donuts, Burger King, and more! Also located on South Campus is Skybarn, Tennity Ice Pavilion, the Inn Complete restaurant, Outdoor Challenge Course, tennis and basketball courts, a track and multiple turf soccer fields. It is also in close proximity to the soccer and field hockey stadiums, athletic buildings, as well as Tops Friendly Markets, a local grocery store. South Campus is a step towards more independent living but with many resources to rely on provided by the University.

In terms of the actual apartments, South provides single, double and triple apartments for students. Within each individual apartment, students will get their own kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. These fully furnished apartments are a step to independence. Each bedroom comes with a desk, full closet, dresser and full-size bed. Another perk is that if anything goes wrong in the apartment, Syracuse’s Facilities team will be there shortly to fix the problem for free. Similarly, utilities are included within the housing payment. In terms of transportation, buses and trolleys run to campus every 15 minutes. Students may be hesitant about the bus at first, but once you figure out the schedule, getting to campus is a breeze. Other resources surrounding South Campus can be found on the Student Living website.

If South Campus doesn’t seem to be for you, consider living off-campus.

The major streets students live in off-campus locations include Euclid, Westcott, Ackerman, Lancaster, Comstock, Maryland, Dell and others. Students who want to shift to these off-campus locations can access the Off-Campus Housing Portal which helps provide trusted landlords and a filter to search for different types of apartments. A big difference between off-campus and South Campus are payments. A few things to consider with off-campus housing are rent per month, if utilities are included, parking and coin laundry. For tips and tricks on budgeting, Student Living has a helpful budgeting resource page.

Living off-campus provides students with more independence and a great learning opportunity. Eventually, everyone will have to deal with developers or landlords. By choosing to live off-campus during college, you get University-provided support to guide you in this first step. So, when you graduate, it is easier to rent a place in an unknown city because you are already familiar with the process. Students have the flexibility to choose their homes, live with friends or go solo in a 1-bedroom apartment. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to choose whether a balcony or a backyard.

Student Living provides full support to all students, living on- or off-campus, with various resources that can guide you in your decision. Some resources involving off-campus living can be found in our Off-Campus Living Guide. In addition, please visit our office in 206 Goldstein Student Center. We have reviews on landlords in the area and their apartments from previous tennants.

For any additional questions regarding South Campus or Off-Campus living, feel free to reach out to any Community Ambassador, as well as Student Living located in 206 Goldstein Student Center.

Written by Avery Gunderson ’23, College of Engineering and Computer Science; Pranav Sharma ’23, School of Information Studies; Allie Galis ’24, School of Architecture