21st Street Co-op Review

The best place I have ever lived, shared alot of cool memories here that I will never forget, keep 21st street co-op alive!!

This past semester I had the chance to live at the 21st Street Co-op. Never in my life, would I have expected to be given the opportunity to live in such an interesting place. I found out about the house, when i was taken there randomly by one of my friends for a party. I remember instantly being intrigued by the culture of the house, the set up, and the individuals who lived there. One of my friends ended up beginning to live there last summer and I would visit them periodically and every time that I visited, I had convinced myself that I was going to live there after my semester abroad. So, Spring semester comes around and I'm finally living at the Co-op and it is everything that I had expected, there was interesting people to meet, cool things to do, and labor to complete. While living there this semester, I was able to learn alot about myself and forge friendships that i cherish and have alot of fun. If you're looking for a unique experience in the way you live, come live at the 21st Street Co-op.

I'm an exchange student from Germany and I currently live at the 21st street Co-Op. I've been living there for half a year and I will stay for one more semester, before I have to go back to Germany. I love my Co-Op! But that love took a few weeks to develop ;) Let me tell you about my experience: When I first arrived at the Co-Op in August, it was in the state of "Interim" - basically a transition time in between the spring and fall semester and labor (work that every member of the Co-op does while living there, a big part of what keeps everything going) was only scarcely being done. I had been warned before coming that this truly was the worst time, and to expect anything, and I thought I did. But to be honest, when I first arrived there, I was in shock! It's hard to describe the state of the Co-Op during that time, let's just say, there was a lot of dirt in various places, a lot of things standing and lying around, rooms and bathrooms that had not properly been cleaned for a while. I personally just had not seen anything like that before and I was baffled by the carelessness that seemed to have caused a lot of it.
The next day, I moved into another room, in another suite and there, I first got to experience what it means to have suite mates (you'll share your suite with 4 to 9 other people), who I really liked. I slowly started to feel a little at home at the Co-Op. I started talking and getting to know the others that lived there during that period, and pretty much every conversation I had, was an uplifting one. After about a week, I ended up moving into the renovated building, which was completely clean at that time, and by that time, I had decided to stay, to try it out - at least for a semester. Now that this semester is coming to a close, I can tell you that I have not regretted my decision! 21st Street has become my home and all of its members/ residents have become somewhat of a family to me. It is just a special kind of closeness that you develop with everybody that is part of this special place, of your community. And we are 100 people at 21st street!
Now, there definitely still are things that annoy me, don't get me wrong. Like when doors get slammed at 3 am, when people just won't bring their dishes back to the kitchen, when they dump their food into the sinks, or just don't clean up after themselves... And that definitely is something that you have to be somewhat comfortable with, if you want to live at 21st street. Like a friend said: "21st streeters are more concerned with community than with cleanliness." But I can tell you - what you get in return, is absolutely special! You will make experiences at 21st street that you will never ever make anywhere else! You will get to know people from literally all over the world. You will meet people whose life experiences have been so different from yours that you can't even imagine it before you've heard their stories! You'll learn and you'll experience, you'll be part of craziness and seriousness, a lot of childishness, and messiness sometimes. There will probably be a few people that you won't be too close with or that you might disagree with but you will have so many people who will want to hang out with you, who will take you places, who will help you out with a drive, a talk, who will carry your big mattress across the Co-Op and who'll give you a massage, and a big hug when you need it. There will be parties and events (my favorite so far definitely was baby-oil wrestling!), clubs, and excursions that you will experience with your fellow Co-Opers. You will have the chance to be creative and to inspire change, to start your own projects. If you put enough effort, energy and excitement into something, you'll definitely be able to get something going!
And if all of that sounds just a little too crazy, too messy for you, I can only encourage you to look up the other Co-Ops! I'm sure you'll find the one that matches your personality and your idea of living together with others!
I'm definitely glad I stayed and I'm looking forward to next semester!

This is a great place to live whether you are looking to find yourself or lose yourself. With 100 housemates there is always someone around or something to get into. Parties are thrown and silly in-house events that promote a sense of community within the house happen regularly so it is easy get involved. You can even run for an officership within the house and help to run it. Members do 4 hours of labor a week around the house from cooking to cleaning to gardening to being the postmaster so there's something for everyone. This also keeps down on rent costs and allows us to have 17 meals a week included in our rent! It is a little dirty here & there and we still have to use quarters for our laundry, but for the price you get a lot. A big ol house that's very close to campus with a gym and place to print things and a commercial kitchen to cook in and about a hundred other students to eat, work, and hang out with. Would highly recommend if u wanna escape the Jester Prison.

I miss living here in the early 2000s. I got to be Trustee for a semester as well as various other officerships throughout my time that taught me alot. There were so many other important life and work skills gained within this house too!

This place is what you make it. It can either be a magical place, or expose weaknesses. For me it was a fair share of both, much like life itself!

Asking current members a favor: From the GOOGLE photos I see here today (March 2020) the house looks rough on 21st St side, so please clean up that graffiti and give the house more gardens and love for me my sweet little MF's.
- - Trustee (Princess) Jody

A great place to live, deep culture and always interesting.

There's never a moment I didn't feel like I had a place to belong here.

Lived here for three years. It went better than expected.

21st Street is probably the most striking example of a wild yet functional student housing co-op. The atmosphere is constant festivities, and it's a bit messy (ok, maybe more than a bit), but the labor gets done and the meals get cooked and everyone is welcoming and friendly.

Scary and gross. Parents beware. Makes you think college is an adult babysitter that teaches adults how to be responsible.

Sure it smells like stale beer, cigarettes, and stuff... But it is my favorite place and will always have a dear place in my heart.

MF21

A beautiful, welcoming home full of Coopertive people that has changed my life for the better.

It's not too clean, but it's the best damn house I've lived in. The people who live there live like family.

Always interesting to go back to visit one of the few places that does not change a lot in West Campus

Gotta be open minded and ready to clean but this is the best place you could ever live if your looking for a tribe or adventures

If you're in for an open-minded student housing experience. This place can be fun. They also host parties occasionally and house around 100 students.

This place and the drug culture they've created drove me to the brink of insanity and death and not a single person has expressed any kind of remorse. If you want to live in a garbage kingdom full of fake people and surface relationships, than this is the place for you