I know the general answer to the question but I'm wanting ask about a more specific situation. I can afford to have a place of my own near one of the universities in the outskirts of the city or I can afford to live within walking distance of the downtown area with all the bars and clubs just a few minutes away, but only with a roommate. So which is better?

University area or downtown?

EDIT: The question is not about having a nice place or not, I can afford a NICER place outside of the city even without roommates...

Thanks guys,
J

I'm beginning to be in the same situation; I have a housemate but don't really need the rent (although it helps). Personally, I like having a housemate; it's someone who's got a completely different group of friends that I get to hang out with (I can generally get on with anyone). My housemate's a student which means that she's not here much during holidays thus I get the best of both worlds.

Might it be worth putting a low rent on the place in the town centre and getting a lot of applicants but tell them to apply for a room with a statement about what they're going to bring to the house (eg. invites to parties)? FWIW, I generally avoid living with people I previously knew in case they're terrible to live with - much easier to cut them out of your life.

With room mates . Trust me , less housework , makes the place you live in more chilled and theirs someone there to have a laugh with when your bored.

It deppends on your goal , if you want much much partys and lot of new people and have someone to chat up go with roomate

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Depends on your tolerance for noise and living with other people. Personally I like to have a roommate around in case I just want to hang out with them. Then again I won't keep a roommate I don't hang out with from time to time. The logistics of being close to everything is golden when you're talking about pick up. Depending on how social you are living near the university can have its own benefits.

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I love being in the city myself so I'd go the room mates. That said, it's really important you find good ones.

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it deppends on your goal

honestly i want a roommate, its cheaper than having your own place when you consider my situation.

Or more housework if they're untidy, less chilled if they've got a load of quirks that annoy you (or just whack on loud music at 5am every morning) etc. that you don't find out about until they're already in there!

Personally though, I think a lot of it depends on your age and what you're looking to get from life at the moment. If you're looking to just party and bring girls back whenever, then a housemate is useful for building up your social network and for helping to arrange parties etc. If, however, you're looking for something more serious and you're starting to "settle down" in life, then I'd go and get your own place. But, for me personally, I'm currently a uni student who has only 2 hours of lectures a week, the rest is all about reading and 'self-learning' which means I have to spend quite a lot of time in my room working; if I didn't have housemates to break that up and entertain me during the day, I'd get so bored.

Oh and also, living near the uni doesn't necessarily mean much if you're not a uni student? I don't know if you are or not, but if you're not a student then I'd say you were better going nearer to town - most of the uni students I know go into town on a night out just as often as going to the uni bars etc. and you've got the 'locals' in town as well.

This really does depend on the individual and where you are at with your lifestyle (i.e. relationship status)

Anyways we are social creatures and I believe it's a good thing to have 1 or 2 strong, positive people who are great influences to live with. This goes back to what Tony Robbins always says about the power of your peer group.

It takes work to really find those individuals but once you do you can really flourish. Quality daily social interactions drive us to be better people IMHO.

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