Cooperative Housing

East Lansing is home to one of the largest Student Housing Cooperative organizations in the country. It is run independently of the University and provides cheap affordable places for students to live.

Housing Cooperatives are similar to apartment buildings in that members pay a monthly fee to live in the building, but the key difference is that there is no land lord or manager that owns the building. The home is controlled by its residents. Everyone pays an equal share of the houses monthly expenses and has an equal say in house government.

There are 15 co-ops in East Lansing currently home to over 200 students.

Most are large houses with around 20 students living in them. Students living in them share the larger common rooms, kitchens and bathrooms and the many bedrooms are usually considered private. Many of the houses have a meal system where the residents share food costs and often prepare meals together.

Communal living is not for everyone. You have to be willing to share a house with many people you may not know, and open to compromising on various issues that come up.

Cooperatives are great places to live, everyone who lives in them tends to be fascinating people because this unusual living arrangement tends to appeal to a small group of people.