<p>The Landmark at Jewish Theological suggested above would be a very short WALK to Columbia. Great rate too. </p>
<p>There are also some great places on airbnb.com. I’ve been looking into them for a visit to see my daughter at Barnard and quite a few are sponsored by Columbia employees. </p>
<p>Are there two locations of Columbia and only one (where their college is located) is at a “nicer” location? Somehow I have a recollection about this.</p>
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<p>Columbia’s main campus is at Morningside Heights from around 114-121 streets and between Broadway in the west and Morningside Drive on the east. Barnard is to the West of Columbia across Broadway.</p>
<p>The other campus is Columbia’s Medical campus located in Washington Heights around the 168 street/Bway area. </p>
<p>Not sure one could say either is arguably a “better neighborhood” than the other though the Morningside Heights campus area has gentrified much more rapidly than the Washington Heights campus. </p>
<p>It’s a factor in why many Columbia undergrads and grad students not affiliated with the Med/Nursing schools have opted to reside in the Washington Heights campus area. Cheaper rents and there’s a convenient Columbia run shuttle bus during the day up until late night. </p>
<p>I’ve had no issues walking alone from friends’ apartments in either campus area after well after midnight hours.</p>
<p>As undergrads go, only 6% live off-campus at all…can’t imagine why any undergrad would choose Wash Heights over Morn Heights.</p>
<p>Actually more than 95% live on campus according to Columbia’s site. I’d bet most of those are NYers.</p>
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<p>Desire to live in an off-campus apartment due to varying reasons ranging from a desire for greater independence from Columbia’s dorm regulations to having summer work/internship arrangements in the city which makes a 12 month apartment lease more convenient. </p>
<p>The figure you cited is probably low because of a mix of the convenience factor of dorm living and NYC rents have skyrocketed to the point most Columbia undergrads…especially those without generous parents/trust funds figure the dorm/boarding fees each year when broken down per month means they’ll break even or come out ahead by staying in dorms rather than renting off-campus apartments…especially if they want to live in Morningside Heights. </p>
<p>And from what I’ve seen of the rental markets in both those neighborhoods and accounting for the convenience factor of dorm living, those undergrads are on the mark. </p>
<p>It’s amazing to me that room and board at Columbia (around $12K per year) doesn’t cost much more than it does at, say, Miami U of Ohio ($11K). I KNOW real estate in Oxford is way cheaper than it is in Morningside Heights!</p>
<p>S was at CSoJ last year, and ended up living in International House, which is in a spectacular high, airy spot on Riverside Drive directly opposite Grant’s Tomb. I must say that the entire area is much more attractive and much safer in feel than it was when I last spent a lot of time in the area. At the same time, is seems to have managed to retain a lot of that Upper-West Side flavor and diversity. I had close friends who lived in the West 90s and 100s in the late 70s-early 80s, so I was there a lot.</p>
<p>The M60 public bus from LGA airport is a good option, if you have the time. I wouldn’t recommend it during the rush hours. The train(s) from JFK involves at least two transfers.</p>
<p>Consider Jersey City, New Jersey. The hotels at Newport and at Exchange Place are 1 stop and about 5 minutes (PATH Train) from lower Manhattan. From PATH transfer to the city subways to the Broadway Line (No. 1 train). The entire trip from Jersey City to 116th Street-Columbia U can be done in about 45 minutes. Get a MetroCard.</p>
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<p>I have a friend who used the M60 to commute from Astoria to Columbia U for the first year of his M.ED at Teacher’s College back in the mid-'00s. </p>
<p>Despite having a good sized studio apartment for ~$800/month* in a nice vibrant neighborhood full of college/young professionals, the long commute to/from Columbia via the M60 or alternatively…walking 10-15 minutes to the nearest subway stop for a commute that was still a bit long was such he opted to pay double the rent for half the space for the sake of forgoing that long commute. In exchange, his commute was a 10-15 minute walk to the main Columbia campus. </p>
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<li>That same studio would probably be going for over $1000-$1200 at the very least now.<br></li>
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<p>Just returned from our third stay at Landmark. Perfect spot in every way.</p>