Choosing the right place to live can have a huge effect on the school year. When thinking about housing each year, the  three main criteria are size, roommates and location. While size and roommates do matter, after sharing a 140 square foot room with a stranger freshman year, location is the most important thing to think about.
Many students want to be as close to campus as possible, and with all the new apartment complexes surrounding the university, there are many options available. While it does seem like living right off campus would be the best possible situation, however it is not for everyone.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine how far from campus you should live:
Do you often attend campus events?
The University of Oregon offers events almost every night of the week, ranging from concerts to lectures. If you catch yourself on campus most nights, then living somewhere close, such as the Capri apartments, would be the best choice. Living farther from campus makes it easier to attend events elsewhere, depending on where you choose to live. The residents at 13th & Olive can walk out of their apartment complex and right into downtown Eugene for all the shopping, dining and entertainment they want.
How do you get around?
Many students choose to walk to school everyday, while others ride their bike, take the bus or drive their car. The mode of transportation you prefer can have a big effect on where you want to live. Living close to campus makes it easier to walk or ride your bike. If you have a car, good luck trying to find a solid place to park without paying extra. As you get farther away from campus, the free parking opens up immensely, and the bus routes are often more accessible than students believe.
Is quiet time important to you?
The streets nearest to campus can have some noisy traffic happening nonstop. Hearing car after car whizz down 18th Avenue and drunken student after drunken student yelling as loud as they can in the wee hours of the night can get old very quickly. Sometimes it is good for students to be able to go home and completely remove themselves from campus life. If you are one of those students, living across the river in Chase Village or Stadium Park would be a perfect choice for you. You are still surrounded by students, but it is a much quieter and more relaxed setting.
Do you like to get easy exercise everyday?
Living too close to campus makes you lazy. Many of us come from bigger cities where it takes around 20 minutes to even drive anywhere, but then we get to Eugene and feel like we all need to be right on top of each other. Too often, I hear students say that a 15 minute walk or a 10 minute bike ride to school is too much, but when asking someone who actually makes those walks everyday, they say it’s not even an issue. Even if it is a bit difficult to make it back to your house between classes, is that really a bad thing? In the end, it may help you by making you stay at school and get some work done.
How much are you willing to pay?
Unless you are one of the lucky ones, living in a nice place near campus is going to be more expensive than something of the same caliber a few blocks away. Some of these new apartment complexes are charging students more year after year and they continue to get service because students feel the need to be by campus. Consider if saving a few thousand dollars a year is worth living a little farther away.
Wherever you choose to live next year, just make sure you have weighed the different options. Don’t let anyone make you feel like where you choose to live is wrong because everyone has different needs. Some people find the perfect place to live freshman year and stay there until they graduate, while others move every single year in search of the best possible situation.