For Jenny Forker and Carolyn Kirkman, East Village is their home away from home this year.
"It's overall the best decision I've made, to live here," said Forker, an education sophomore.
Forker and Kirkman, a journalism and Spanish sophomore, are roommates at the Cedar Village Apartments in the East Village area.
Forker said she liked the area best for its location.
"It's so close (to campus,)" she said.
But the popular location — known for its history of riots and partying atmosphere — could be transformed into a completely new district in function and design.
East Lansing and MSU officials have been framing plans to redevelop the 35-acre area of mainly student housing since spring 2004. The city's planning commission is currently reviewing a draft of the master plan. After approval, the East Lansing City Council will decide the ultimate fate of the area. Officials plan to change the area over a span of 10-15 years.
The plan calls for stacked housing units designed for a diverse population, including students, faculty, retirees and young professionals, as well as businesses on the street level.
Officials feel redeveloping the area will revitalize the city, making it more attractive to young professionals looking for places to settle for work.
East Village is home to about 2,000 residents who live in properties owned by companies such as DTN Managment, Prime Housing Group Inc. and Cron Management. Officials see an opportunity to increase the number of residents in that area from 2,000 to nearly 7,000 people.
Kirkman cited the location as a positive part of living in the area.
"You can walk pretty much anywhere (from here)," she said, adding that the longest walk from her apartment is about 20 minutes.
For Kirkman, though, the best part of East Village is the people.
"You meet so many people," Kirkman said. "They're fun, and we all get along for the most part."
Despite the reputation of East Village being a location for rioting — the most recent incident occurring during the April 2-3 disturbances after the Spartans' loss in the Final Four of the NCAA men's basketball tournament— Forker said it's still a "good area."
Several students said they enjoyed living in East Village because of the fun atmosphere.
Financing junior David Rapp has lived in Cedar Village Apartments for six months.
"It's lively," he said. "You can always find something going on."
Both Kirkman and Forker said they have a lot of freedom when it comes to partying and noise, within the restriction of the law.
Kirkman described the area as being "loud, crazy, wild party," with most of the residents as students, while Forker said it's a place for "people who want to have fun and aren't uptight about noise."
But students still study for classes, they said.
With the MSU College of Law Library just south of East Village off of Bogue Street, the women said many students choose to go there for a quiet study location.
But, Rapp said, if students want to study they can just close their doors and the noise isn't a problem.
Unlike newly built off-campus apartments, Cedar Village units were constructed with cinder block and brick walls visible inside each apartment.
One possible concern for students who wish to rent here, though, is that "things get stolen," Kirkman said.
"Cigarettes and wine were stolen our first night," Forker said, adding that pasta was also taken.
However, they said stealing does not happen often. Another consideration for most tenants is the maintenance service at their apartment complex.
"They're really good about maintenance (here)," Forker said. "We had a problem with our screen and they fixed it the next day."
Rapp said in his experience, though, maintenance could be better. He and his roommate have been waiting for two months to get their garbage disposal fixed, he said.
"If it affects the whole building, they're pretty quick about it," Rapp said. "But, if it's more of a one-room thing, it may take them a while."
