The S-T-A-N-F-O-R-D Neighborhoods, Reviewed
Love it or hate it, the housing draw is gone! Going forward, every student will be assigned to a “Neighborhood” to live in for the entirety of their time at Stanford (with some exceptions). The deadline to rank neighborhoods for the 2021-2022 school year is approaching quickly! (Sunday at 11:59PM PT) Accordingly, the Review has reviewed each neighborhood for you!
The anatomy of each neighborhood is as follows:
- One central residence (mostly for frosh and sophomores)
- Three to five Row houses (this includes Greek houses, co-ops, and generic houses) for non-frosh. Includes houses that you can pre-assign to (see: pre-assignment).
- Part of EVGR and Mirrielees for upperclassmen. This housing is the same between all neighborhoods; they are both apartment-style buildings on East Campus. EVGR is shiny and new! Traditionally, Mirrielees has been half substance-free, half football players, and without much dorm community to speak of. But in the New Regime, who knows?
This guide is not intended to help you choose a specific house within a neighborhood - that won’t happen until over the summer (July or August). But by knowing which houses are in each neighborhood, we hope you’ll be able to make the best decision possible about which neighborhood you will live in over the course of your time here.
But don’t worry too much - there’s something for everyone in each neighborhood. Stanford housing has always been chaos, but we have all survived, and so will you!
Neighborhood S: Wilbur I
Central residence: Wilbur Hall (East)
As far as large dorm complexes go, Wilbur is a little less nice than Stern, and is a bit farther away from central campus. It’s great, though, if you want to live (and party!) among lots of people. Wilbur was traditionally the largest frosh dorm, and we anticipate it will maintain that same energy!
Row houses:
BOB (Robert Moore South) (Upperclass) - BOB is at the center of the Row, a very busy location, especially on weekends!
Terra (Co-op) - LGBT co-op
These two are both in the Cowell Cluster, on the far southeast of campus. A bit remote, but nice housing with all the usual amenities of a self-op (good kitchen, etc.).
Neighborhood T: Wilbur II
Central residence: Wilbur West
The twin of Wilbur I, Wilbur II dorms are more or less the same. Wilbur II’s Row houses are an improvement, though!
The biggest downside to either of the Wilbur neighborhoods or the Stern neighborhood is that its Sophomore housing is not great. But, for you rising sophomores who have never been to campus, you’ll manage!
Row houses:
610 Mayfield (Upperclass) - Formerly Maison Française (R.I.P). A beautiful, if uncreatively named, house, and not too far down the Row!
Enchanted Broccoli Forest (Co-op) - Get it? Broccoli? This is a very mellow co-op, not an insane environment, just…relaxed. Just ask around.
EBF, Jerry, and Narnia, are all “lake houses” (near Lake Lag) in the woods on the south of campus. They are in a peaceful, albeit isolated location, closest to FloMo.
Neighborhood A: Stern
Central residence: Stern Hall
Burbank (arts-themed ITALIC program)
Casa Zapata (ethnic theme - Latin America)
Stern has slightly nicer facilities than Wilbur. It’s closer to main quad, and a little newer and cleaner. Also, a better dining hall. But essentially, the same. Lots of people, a real campus nexus!
Row houses:
Columbae (Co-op) - vegetarian/activism co-op. Excellent location, but co-ops aren’t for everyone, and this one is very political. (Our Editor-in-Chief Maxwell gives it an overall positive review though) Even if you don’t tolerate tofu well, you’ll be able to eat 5x weekly in the dining halls!
Mars (Upperclass) - one of the best locations on the Row. Five stars.
Neighborhood N: the Row neighborhood
Central residence: Crothers/Toyon
Crothers has bigger rooms and a great location. Right next to the gym and the library! The building itself is not pretty, and the interior decor is a little dreary. But it’s still much better than your typical frosh housing.
Definitely the nicest all-Sophomore housing. Inside, it’s straight out of Harry Potter, and on the outside one of the most beautiful dorms on campus, like a small Spanish palace!
Row houses:
620/650: Formerly Haus Mitt and Slav (R.I.P) - Two nice houses on the very far end of the Row. Same with Durand. In the Ancien Regime, these were two of the most desirable row houses on campus since their fun themes created a great sense of community. We don’t yet know how they’ll shake out next year, though. It’s a shame that Stanford axed them, as these houses hosted some of the better all-campus events.
Hammarskjold (Co-op). Stunning building, not too far, and probably the mildest co-op (international themed). And a great Scandinavian name - it’s basically a Viking village!
Pluto (Upperclass) - Pluto is aptly named. This house is furthest down on the Row. It is a nice house, inside and out, though. The remote location tends to foster a strong sense of community.
Robert Moore North (UTH) - “The Well House.” Theme: substance-free. Which is great, but it strikes us as strange to put the substance-free house right in the middle of the Row, where all the substance is…
Roth (Upperclass). - Historically, the all-girls Row house, which had some great community. Unclear if this will still be the case. Located near the middle of the Row.
Neighborhood F: Branner and Casper
Central Residence:
Branner (All-Frosh) - One of the best (if not the best) dorms for freshmen available: one of the most beautiful dorms on campus, with a fantastic location, and its own excellent dining hall.
Gerhard Casper Quad - Castaño (All-frosh), Kimball (Upperclass), Lantana (All-sophomore), Ng (UTH) - Casper Quad’s central location makes it easy to socialize, and students from all across campus converge on the excellent Casper dining hall. Plus, the rooms are new and beautiful, especially in Ng. Easily one of the best places to live on campus, if you don’t want to be on the Row.
Row Houses:
Row - Grove (Upperclass) - Located near the beginning of the Row.
Row - Kairos (Co-op) - Manageable co-op, but still, learn about what they are before you live there (you’ll be working on cleaning or cooking!).
Neighborhood O: FloMo
Central Residence: Florence Moore Hall (FloMo)
FloMo can be a great location, depending on what you are looking for in a dorm. Located between East and West Campus, it’s the closest dorm to Tressider, not to mention it has a decent dining hall (Indian food on Sundays, as well as real ice cream (not soft serve!) during the week. The SLE dorms are also in part of FloMo.
Though it is right next to the Row, it’s known for being one of the quieter dorms. If you’re looking for action and a busy hive of students, FloMo is probably not it, but it gets lots of love regardless.
This neighborhood’s culture will probably be very SLE-oriented (lots of humanities majors).
Row Houses:
576 Alvarado (Co-op) - 576 is by far the most...unique co-op. Unless you’re an aggressive leftist or enjoy thick-painted walls and unorthodox room designs, it’s best to steer clear of 576.
680 Lomita (Upperclass) - Lake House, far south of campus, not many people around.
Row - Storey (Upperclass). - PRIME location. Very beginning of the Row, directly next to White Plaza, one of the closest residences to the quad.
Muwekma-Tah-Ruk (Native themed house)
Neighborhood R: Roble and Lag
Central Residence: Lag + Roble
Ujamaa (Black diaspora theme house)
This neighborhood is located a little further away, but has some of the news facilities. West Arrillaga (Farillaga) gym is right across the street!
Iconic, ivy-covered building, slightly older than most, surrounded by trees on West Campus. Roble is located close to White Plaza, Main Quad, and Engineering Quad. It’s slightly quieter, but no ghost town. It has excellent indoor and outdoor communal spaces, traditions, events, and is a lovely place to live!
Row houses:
Xanadu (Upperclass) - A loud area, located in the middle of the Row! Xanadu is often very busy on weekends.
Neighborhood D: Governor’s Corner
Central residence: GovCo
EAST (“equity” themed house - who knows what that means?)
Yost (combined French, Italian, Russian themed language house - awkward)
All of these dorms are quite far from the center of campus, and as a result, the butt of many jokes. It’s nice if you enjoy riding a bicycle, but difficult if you like walking to class. We hope that Neighborhood D will become its own great community on the far edge of campus, but this area has always been an island to itself. Historically, it’s been an introverted place, but hopefully some new frosh will energize the area!
The banishment of the cultural theme houses (French House, Casa Italiana, and Slav) away from the center of student social life on the Row to Yost is a terrible mistake on the part of University administrators. But we hope these communities can survive!
Row houses:
550 Lasuen (Upperclass) - Prime real estate, beautiful building, overall an excellent place to live!
Synergy (Co-op) - WARNING: frequent nudity and poor sanitary standards.