Living off campus doesn’t always guarantee freedom. With security deposits and picky landlords, personalizing space isn’t always easy. Co-ops are an alternative some students turn to when they want to avoid these problems.
“Co-opers have tremendous control over their environment,” said Adrien Vlach, executive director of the MSU Student Housing Cooperative, or the MSU SHC. “DTN (Management Co.) isn’t going to let you pop an organic garden in your front yard, or start a compost pile or paint a mural on your wall. But, all of those are things that co-opers can do – all they have to do is vote on it.”
The MSU SHC community, which comprises 195 members in 12 houses near campus, even allows its members to set their own rent.
According to Vlach, a single room in a co-op this semester runs anywhere from $400-$475 per month, a price that includes rent, all utilities, cable, Internet, and in the larger houses, food.
“No one’s making money off of us. What we spend goes right back into our houses,” said Dani Berry, vice president of membership at the SHC.
All house decisions are made by the house members themselves. So everything from setting rent to painting your room is negotiable.
“If you want to do something or change something, you can,” said Berry.
The houses, which range in size from as few as four members per house to as many as 29, have a focus on community.
Duties around the house such as cleaning, doing dishes and taking out the trash are split between the house members. When the chores don’t get done, a member can be fined.
Co-ops also get the perks of having a community to help with the material side of college living.
“I sure can’t buy the premium cable package, a foosball table and a $500 blender on my own, but living with 15 other people I can,” said SHC executive vice president Paul Kelly. “Combined buying power is a powerful thing.”
But don’t believe the myth that co-ops are only “hippie housing.”
“Our houses are quite politically diverse,” Kelly said. “On one end of the spectrum, we’ve had houses full of liberal political activists that don’t allow meat into the house, and on the other we’ve had students who are card-carrying NRA members actively involved in the Republican Party and who campaign relentlessly.”
Though the co-op houses require work to maintain, residents often find time to do things that interest them too.
“There are smaller houses with grad students who need to study,” Berry said. “If you’re really social and you want to party, we have houses that can accommodate that too.”
The house community aspect also can get residents attached to their house. Kelly, who has lived in a co-op for four years, said he has built a patio, painted and remodeled his home all while he’s lived there.
“I’m going to be sad when I leave,” Kelly said.
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