_ . 3 Auk AdML Adi, 9 Q0 0 0 4B Wednesday, September 28 2011 // Thle Statemnent Wednesday, 2011 5- B a SA FEST S BEST B E ST SHOPPIN G & SERVICES ET/RESTA U R ANTS LOWEST PRICE TO HOME S W EET H 0 E By Statement Staff You just settled into your off-campus home and probably haven't even unpacked your last box when your landlord rings the doorbell and arrives with eager young house-hunters looking to rent a place next fall. With October right around the corner, the student lease-signing cycle begins anew. As the house-hunting season begins, The Michigan Daily has put together a housing guide to help you find a neighborhood you'll love. The housing information is based on an online survey of 186 students from the 1S different off-campus neighborhoods recognized by the University who shared their thoughts on the quality, price, location and safety of their home. The Statement staff scoured business maps to find the neighborhoods with the most and best shopping, nightlife, restaurants and green spaces and looked at reports from the University's Department of Public Safety and Ann Arbor Police Department to find areas of low crime. Act fast before your dream home gets taken. The area between West Huron Street and West Madi- T son Street usually breeds the nicest living spaces for a decent price in an eccentric and unique part of town. The area is great because it's Ann Arbor at its finest: think free trade stores and older hippies. The area - located in the old West side historical district - is a five minute walk to the Kerrytown shopping district (which means Zingerman's and the farmer's market) and is adjacent to the classy and overpriced shopping and dining available on Main Street. So, if you want a fancy date night with your special someone (or your parents), or feel like taking a stroll down the Huron River to watch the crew team on Argo Pond, this area is docile, quiet and one of the prettiest in Ann Arbor. Almost every house has a special flavor to it, and most of the living spaces are cozy and homey. Walk outside your house in this district, and you will be greeted with beautiful paved sidewalks to stroll along and clear your head or the opportunity to feed an already fattened squirrel. Usually called home by graduate students and Ann Arbor residents, the houses here are usually kept up nicely, and kitchens don't look like fallout shelters. The bedrooms also lack holes in walls and unhinged doors. The two downsides to living in this area are that higher quality often means higher prices, and the neighborhood is about a 15-minute walk from Cen- tral Campus, which makes walks from the library or Brown Jug on a chilly winter night rather excruciating. Well stocked with a bevy of outfitters, this area is a haven for Carrie Bradshaw pretenders. State Street is a murderer's row of retail, with women's boutique Pitaya, men's staple Van Boven and other shops helming the block. Like your threads distressed? With Liberty Street's Rag- stock and Avtomobile, and State Street's Star Vintage and The Getup, the area is host to a healthy crop of subversive, used clothing destinations that tastefully complement the mainstream, trend-driven offerings of heavy hitters Urban Outfitters and American Apparel. And, with outdoors stores State Street's Bivouac and Main Street's Moosejaw, the best answers to Ann Arbor's Hoth-like winter inhabit the area. There's no excuse to be starved for school spirit in this area either. State Street's neighboring All About Blue and The M-Den (and let's not forget local leviathan Under- ground Printing's Main Street destination) boast an almost ridiculous stock of University gear, saving a student that annoying trek to Briarwood should, say, their "Michigan Beer Pong" T-shirt get totally thrashed at that Psi U pre- game. Sprinkle in a few corporate conveniences - chiefly, State Street's 7-Eleven and CVS - and dash it with Nickels Arcade, Dawn Treader Book Shop and other only-in-Ann Arbor locales, and the area is ultimately a shopping hotspot. As our favorite obese gangster rapper Rick Ross would say: "blowing money fast." Indeed, Rick.