The University offers several housing alternatives, including some designed with families in mind. Hasbrouck (F1) and Maplewood (F7) apartments are self-contained living units with kitchens, living rooms, and private bedrooms. Thurston Hall (B2) has smaller one- and two-person units with kitchens. Schuyler House (A7) offers a more dorm-like setting, with communal recreation and cooking areas. Although there are some advantages to University housing, a determined renter can usually find a larger apartment for the same amount of money on the private market. Thus many graduate students who live in these units during their first year do not renew their leases.
On the private market, the area closest to the engineering quad is Collegetown. Although there are exceptions, housing here tends to be expensive, small, and populated by undergraduates. On weekend nights the streets can be filled with noisy and drunk people. If you can afford the expensive rent, there are a few luxury apartment complexes along College Avenue and Dryden Road.
Because most undergraduates want to be very close to the center of collegetown, the ``edges'' of collegetown can be less expensive and quieter. Roughly, these edges are defined by Cornell Ave to the East, Stewart Ave to the West, and State Street (route 79) to the South.
Downhill (West) from Cornell are two neighborhoods that we reccomend - ``downtown'' and ``fall creek.'' There are many excellent apartments here, as well as some terrible ones. Prices are generally less than in collegetown, and the life is quieter and nicer, in our opinion. Your neighbors will be families and professionals, some other graduate students, and very few undergraduates. You will be able to walk to shopping, bars, restaurants and groceries. Getting to campus will require a 10-30 minute walk uphill (depending on your speed and location) or a bus ride. Busses are convenient from downtown, less so from Fall Creek. In the summer, the Cascadilla gorge trail provides a scenic route up to campus from both downtown and fall creek.
There is a neighborhood between North campus and Cayuga Heights which has some good apartments. It is far from Collegetown, and thus has lower rents and is quieter. Unlike downtown and fall creek, it is almost the same altitude as campus, so the walk/bike ride is much easier. Consider Ridgewood Rd to be an approximate definition of this neighborhood.
Various other areas have their own distinct character. South Hill has an active housing market that caters mostly to the Ithaca College student crowd. Cayuga Heights is mainly the realm of stately manors owned by senior Cornell faculty, but there are a few affordable apartment complexes as well. The Snyder Hill area has a number of duplex houses for rent, and a bus line serving them. West Hill, across the lake from campus, has some nice apartment complexes, although the commute is fairly long. You can even find a house on Cayuga Lake, but make sure to consider what it will be like in winter! Some students choose to live in outlying towns where the rent is cheapest. Rumor has it that one enterprising student even built himself a tree-house in a sheep field. Whatever the option, somebody has probably tried it before.