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Michigan Medicine Resident and Fellow Housing Guide
You need sleep, food, and a short walk. Price and charm come second.
The resident commute in one paragraph
As a Michigan Medicine resident or fellow, you want to live within a mile of the hospital. You are working 60 to 80 hours a week. You will be walking in at 5:30 AM and stumbling home at 8 PM. A fifteen-minute drive is a fifteen-minute drive you do not have. Walk or bike is the target.
Your real constraints
PGY-1 through PGY-3 salaries do not stretch far in Ann Arbor. Plan on a third of your gross going to housing.
You probably want a one-year lease, not two, because you may rotate off-service or match into fellowship elsewhere.
You need reliable heat, reliable internet, and a quiet enough bedroom to sleep post-call.
A parking spot matters less than a bedroom window that does not face a bar patio.
If you have a partner who works in Chicago or Detroit, the math changes. Plan around their commute, not yours.
Best neighborhoods within a mile
Kerrytown puts you ten minutes on foot from Taubman Center. Market access, restaurants, quiet residential blocks. Small one-bedrooms and shared houses are common.
Water Hill is twelve minutes on foot, fifteen in ice. Smaller houses, more owner-occupied, fewer rentals, but some duplexes. Great for residents who want a yard share.
The north edge of the Old West Side along Felch, First, and Ashley is walkable and has rental stock.
The State St corridor between Madison and Hill has small apartment buildings and older multi-units. You can walk to Taubman in fifteen minutes down State.
Observatory Lodge on Observatory St is the classic grad-and-resident building: furnished, short-lease-friendly, a six-minute walk to the medical campus. Limited availability and priced accordingly.
The Hill Street corridor east of State is mostly undergrad but has some quiet older buildings. Know the block.
Neighborhoods within a ten-minute drive
If you cannot find the right unit inside the walk ring, Burns Park north end works. Ten-minute drive, fifteen-minute bike via East University to Observatory. Prices are higher than Water Hill but you get real housing.
Ann Arbor Hills on the east is quiet but car-dependent. Works for a resident with a partner who needs the quiet.
Northside off Pontiac Trail is a seven-minute drive into Fuller and parking there is the yellow-permit story. Good for residents who already have a car and want cheaper rent.
Huron Hills east of US-23 is ten minutes via Huron Pkwy. Boring in a good way.
Short-lease and sublet realities
Most Ann Arbor landlords start new leases on September 1 because of the undergrad cycle. If you match in March and are moving in July, your options shrink.
July and August have a second, smaller sublet market driven by residents and grad students. Check Michigan Housing bulletin, GradRoommates, and the resident listservs.
Buildings around Observatory, Washtenaw, and Geddes have more twelve-month leases starting in July because they cater to the medical campus.
Short-term furnished options include Observatory Lodge, some buildings on Packard, and a rotating set of Airbnb-style sublets from grad students on summer research trips.
Six-month leases are rare but exist. You will pay a premium. It may be worth it for the flexibility if you are in a one-year fellowship.
Call-room nights and what matters at home
Blackout curtains. Non-negotiable. Post-call sleep during daylight is the difference between functioning and not.
Laundry in the unit, not down the hall. You will not have time for the coin laundry trip.
A second door lock for your bedroom if you are in a shared house. You are sleeping at weird hours.
A kitchen that lets you batch-cook on Sunday. Tiny galley kitchens will break you by January.
Walking distance to a grocery store. Argus Farm Stop, Kerrytown Market, or the People's Food Co-op for the Kerrytown and Water Hill folks. Plum Market on the west edge.
Proximity to a gym with 5 AM hours if that matters to you. The UM rec facilities are open early during the academic year.
What breaks this commute
Winter ice on the walk down Glen or Observatory. Wear traction cleats. Seriously.
Football Saturdays block the State St corridor. If you are on service Saturday, plan a Kerrytown or Water Hill walk that goes up Fourth Ave or Fifth Ave, not through State.
Move-in week in late August floods central campus. If your lease starts September 1, you are moving alongside ten thousand undergraduates.
The Hill Street party corridor gets loud on game weekends. If you live between State and Washtenaw south of Hill, you are in it.
Summer construction on Fuller Rd makes the walk from Kerrytown to the hospital longer by five minutes some years.
The decision framework
If budget is tight, Water Hill or the Old West Side north end. Share a house.
If you want a studio or one-bedroom and are prioritizing sleep, Observatory Lodge or a small Kerrytown building.
If you are a fellow with a partner and need more room, Burns Park north end or Kerrytown duplex.
If you are a PGY-1 without a car, Kerrytown or State St corridor. You will not need the car.
If you are coming from a big city and want something that feels like a neighborhood, Water Hill.
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