Location matters… but not as much as you might think

This is a fairly entertaining version of the old “location, location, location” angle that marketers love to highlight, especially if they’re situated right across from campus. This one was for a student community in College Station, TX (Go Aggies!) but it could just have easily been shot for any one of a thousand other college communities around the nation.

Here in Gainesville, FL (Go Gators!) there are a number of niches to the student housing market; across the street from campus, large all-inclusive sites which ferry students to campus by bus, and assorted intermittent communities and houses from which students either drive/bike/walk/take the bus. There was a time when location really did mean what these ads try to evoke – you either walked to class five minutes prior, or you had to set out on an epic quest to reach your lab the night before in order to arrive on time. No longer…

Gainesville’s RTS (Regional Transit System) transported over 1.8 Million riders on just their campus routes in 2010. What many of these students know and enjoy is that the bus can be a great respite from the often bumper-to-bumper traffic, and otherwise daring games of turkey, in that great cosmic joke that is parking on campus. Need a little time to read your lecture notes again before a test? Want to just drink your Rock Star energy drink and play Angry Birds while listening to Lil’ Wayne? Yes please.

Just as in time immemorial when it comes to real estate – location matters. But how it matters all depends on you. Are you a 5th year Senior wrapping up some electives while avoiding the real world? Might I recommend Midtown’s awesome bar scene? You won’t have to worry about getting home and honestly, that’s about all you really want to worry about right now. Foreign exchange student? You’d love an all-inclusive roommate matching community that’s across the street from shopping! No car = no worries and the bus affords you plenty of time to read!

The best advice I can give you, the eager and excited college student, is to find out what you want to spend your time on and what your lifestyle will look like day to day. Where will you spend most of your time? Job? Where do your friends live? Keep it all in mind and the correct choice when it comes to location should take care of itself.