While Iowa State offers a variety of on-campus living options, many students choose to live off campus, especially as upperclassmen.

Samantha Gonzalez-Huerta, a junior in kinesiology and health, said she has lived off campus for two years and currently has a commute of 10 to 15 minutes.

“It kind of depends on the morning traffic,” Gonzalez-Huerta said. “I’ve noticed that some days are a lot busier than others. Yesterday, there was a long, long line to get to class. There’s just so many cars.”

Even with the traffic, she still prefers the freedom and personal space of having an apartment.

“I like having my own freedom to do what I want within my apartment,” Gonzalez-Huerta said. “Of course, I have to be considerate of my neighbors, just like I would in a dorm or in an on-campus apartment, like Freddy, but I like it a lot better,” 

Elyssa Hellberg, a junior in animal science, described the reliability of the CyRide orange route. 

“Every morning, I drive to the commuter lot, right in front of Jack Trice,” Hellberg said. “From there, I get on the bus for the orange route, which I love because it comes every three minutes. So super easy, and I take that to get onto campus.” 

Instead of using a dining plan, Hellberg explained that she chooses to pack a lunch each day.

“I try to bring a little lunch with me every day,” Hellberg said. “I used to have dining dollars, and then I just didn’t use them as much as I thought I would.”

Riley Youngstedt, a senior in animal science, has access to on-campus parking because she works at the horse barn on campus.

“I actually park where I work, which is at the horse barn,” Youngstedt said. “I definitely like not having to use the commuter lot, just because being in the commuter lot takes a very long amount of time to get to classes compared to just being right there.”

Youngstedt mentions that one downside is that leaving campus can lead to less productivity.

“I think it’s just a discipline thing,” Youngstedt said. “If you need to get homework done and you need to go to campus, you just have to be disciplined to make sure that you’re going to get things done. For me, the environment where I’m working on stuff is pretty important. If I have a distracting environment like I do when I go home, I don’t always get as much done.” 

Bus routes are available to download on iOS and Android. Click here for more information on the Ames Ride, Transit and MyState apps.