M. Arch at Syracuse...where to live?? (New York, Union: credit, how much)

[sspringer]

I may be moving this fall to Syracuse to do my master of architecture...where are the best places to live for students? Also, whats it like to live there? Id be more inclined to spend a little more in order to be in a more lively area but key is proximity to the school or transportation to it.

My decision is between here and CCNY in NYC, and since Syr is the better school Im trying hard to justify not moving to NYC which is where I really want to live. Syracuse seems pretty nice from all the pictures Ive seen...Im very much into urban recreation and squares, etc, as well as parks and free means of activity.

Thanks so much!

[proulxfamily]

The Westcott/University area, without question. It's almost literally a straight shot from the campus on the Centro bus system, which (I believe) students are given a free pass on... really, it's no more than a dozen blocks from the campus gate and very walkable as well.

[justflow1983]

M. Arch I or II? I would live wherever is closest to the studio, it makes getting your work done much easier. I don't remember if their studios are still downtown or if they moved them back up to campus, but the college should tell you if you ask.

I just finished my B. Arch at Cornell a couple of years ago, which shares a lot of faculty with SU and SU is a really excellent school with great people to learn from. If you're doing your post-professional then you'll already know what I'm saying here, so feel free to ignore it. Here's my thoughts on the location choice.

If you're studying architecture, you'll be working hard and working a lot, because a lot of how you learn it is just trial, error, and repetition. Syracuse is a less distracting city, and the low key social scene makes it a good place to relax when you're not working, yet large enough that you can hide from your colleagues if you need to (something that drove me nuts about Cornell, where you can't escape it). Its also very convenient for getting things like supplies, and the housing is pretty much as cheap as it can be. On the downside, there aren't very many architectural gems to see and experience as a part of the teaching, although its close enough to NYC that you'll probably have studios send you down there once in a while. You're going to be working all the time, so unfortunately there won't be too many weekends you could pop down to have fun in NYC. Syracuse isn't a boring city if you don't want it to be, but it doesn't have the excitement of a larger place. Its still large enough that you can do a 4am food and coffee run when you need to. On top of that, Megabus can get you to NYC for $1 if you book your seat early enough.

NYC is a great place to practice architecture, but probably not a great place to learn it (my own opinion, and not a strong opinion either). There's so much going on, and so much to do and see and look at, that you'd end up getting distracted from very time consuming studies. You have tons of examples of first rate projects around to learn from, which is definitely important and worthwhile. In terms of learning from other creative people, there are a lot of people to draw inspiration from, even though thats more important for post-college than when you're studying. On the downside, you also will be spending a lot of $$ on housing that you probably won't be spending a lot of time in anyway, and you'd probably often find yourself missing a lot of what NYC has to offer anyway. If you're living in Brooklyn or so, it could take you an hour to get to Wash Heights every day which would definitely cut into your work time, most importantly, sleep time.

Syracuse is definitely the better school, and in architecture as in most professions you get a lot of job contacts from alums and professors. You also can't make up for bad instructors, as architecture education is mostly learned from dialogue with your teachers and how they talk about and critique your work. The actual architects practicing in Syracuse are mostly pretty mediocre, but the faculty are mostly full-time and brought from other places.

Another thing about architecture schools is the distinction between full-time faculty, and part-timers who are practicing architects. While it may seem that the pactitioners are better to learn from, its actually the other way around. The full timers are theory-heads that will see much more deeply into your work and often guide it into much more experimental territory. This will translate into more adventurous work and a broader design sense, even if a lot of it doesn't show through when you start building.

[justflow1983]

Googled CCNY and your Archinect post came up first. Looks like you've got plenty of advice, good luck with your choices!

[sspringer]

Ill be getting my M.Arch I, but I already have a B.Arch, just not accredited (they neglected to tell us that when we signed up). Part of my hesitation is simply due to the fact that where I live now seems theoretically like Syracuse (though much smaller), and Ive been pretty miserable here.

However, its unfair for me to write it off just because of something like that, and the fact that its such a well respected school keeps this debate going for me. One day im for sure going to CCNY, and Syracuse the next haha. Fortunately I know I cant really go wrong, and both schools are far superior to where Im at now.

In Syracuse, I think I might like to live downtown, especially since the studios are there in The Warehouse. In NYC, ive found a few places in Midtown and around Columbia, but Im sure theyll be gone by the time I move in late August.

Seems like its 50/50 from everyone I talk to, on forums and here at school. I get the feeling this one is going to go down to the wire.

[justflow1983]

Well good luck again. I had a horrible time deciding between Cornell and Rice, so I almost ended up in TX myself. It ended up being that my parents didn't want to pay for all the airfare, houston to Syracuse can be an expensive flight. I won't say there isn't the danger of being miserable in Syracuse, but when I was in Arch school I was too busy to do more than go to a few parties and the same 3 bars. The weather definitely is a love it or hate it thing, personally I don't like winters that don't have tons of snow. New York City is a wonderful place, although in my mind its overrun. i think every single 20-something in America that wants to live in a city and not roll over and sucumb to the suburbs thinks that they MUST live in NYC. It ends up being that most of the 20-somethings in NYC are people from other places all trying to live up to their NYC expectations. Thats not to diminish it though; I'd have no problem living there and there are a fantastic amount of opportunities and new experiences. Syracuse doesn't have a lot of concerts (which always pissed me off), although its got a decent amount of fun going on. It'd be more of a place to pass the time while you're in arch school, and you could do so very comfortably there. You'd have a lot more fun in NYC with a job and a paycheck than being an architecture student tied to a computer screen 20 hrs a day.

[justflow1983]

btw my brother lives in Brooklyn, and he was saying that rents in the city have gone down a lot, so thats a plus for the NYC end of things.

[sspringer]

Thanks for all your input, I really appreciate it. This would've been much easier had I gotten into Princeton or Yale where I REALLY wanted to go...but thats just life haha.

Ive noticed Im finding some really good prices in nice areas, a fair bit cheaper than what many people have said, so thats definitely a plus. Im going to get in touch with a few firms I want to work for afterward and see if I can get any info that will tip the scales one way or another.

Thanks again!

[justflow1983]

Well if you really wanted Princeton or Yale, I'd throw my lot in with Syracuse. All those schools share faculty, and they also share faculty with the AA, Sci-arch, Harvard, etc. At Cornell, I had a lot of profs who were also teaching at Princeton or Syracuse, or who had been previously teaching at one or another the year before. These people are mostly guest faculty who make a living as itinerant architecture professors and work on short term contracts, so they move around a lot. Syracuse is a little more outside the of that loop, since theres a bit of Ivy snobbery that keeps some of the faculty from teaching there, but I do know a lot of my profs taught there after their Cornell contracts expired or vice versa. One of my favorite former Cornell profs is teaching there at the moment, as is one of my old classmates. I don't know anything about CCNY, if its tied to Columbia you probably get the guest lecturer thing, but unfortunately Columbia and the NYC schools are more insular and share faculty amongst themselves.

[sspringer]

That seems to be the case with the big-name schools. I know CCNY gets profs from Columbia, Cooper Union, and Pratt...coincidently the other 3 schools I didn't get into. The main reason I liked Princeton so much was, of course, its facilities, but also the town was very quaint and in great proximity to NYC and Philly where my close family lives. Not to mention its status as an architecture school.

I do wonder how much a name really goes towards getting a job, etc. Here, typically an A&M grad can get a job guaranteed simply based on the fact that they are from A&M (provided someone high up is also), but now thats completely gone (in architecture). Not only has the program lost alot of respect, but I assume much of it has to do with the economy.

Thats my other main worry with Syracuse, since CCNY is so much cheaper and I wouldnt have to move again in 2 years. Im funding everything on my own, and with the economy like it is, a cheap decent education can certainly stand up to an expensive excellent education. Whats worse is that Syracuse doesnt let you know if you got any until you make a down payment.