Wild parties, basketball games and students everywhere – to some, this might sound like the ideal college-living experience.

But for some people, the negative aspects of living near San Diego State far outweigh the desire to enjoy “the college life.”

The lack of quality bars and restaurants.

The pressure to drink and socialize instead of doing homework.

The loud, messy neighbors who never seem to go to sleep.

And of course, the expensive rent.

These are only some of the reasons why each year many students say, “thanks but no thanks” to the College-Area life.

For mechanical engineering junior Will Bradbury, it was all of the above.

Bradbury moved to SDSU from North Dakota, but said that he felt stifled by residence hall restrictions that prevented people from throwing parties or even going into the courtyard after dark. So after only one semester, he moved to an apartment on the fringes of College Area.

But this new situation was hardly better.

Bradbury said that he feels a real lack of community among students in the College Area, while complaining that he regularly wakes up and finds his apartment complex trashed from a loud party the night before.

“It seems like half the people that live in College Area are just grown up high school students,” Bradbury said. “I mean, I really can’t imagine hearing some of the things I hear yelled out car windows in that neighborhood (anywhere else).”

While students such as Bradbury are anxiously awaiting the chance to try their luck in one of San Diego’s more central communities such as North Park or Hillcrest, some are already living off campus and loving it.

Liberal studies sophomore Brittnee Gonzalez was not altogether unhappy during her year living on campus. However, when she realized she could live closer to Downtown and the beach, be near shops and a trolley stop and pay less money than she would at SDSU, the move seemed like the obvious choice.

Now, she said she is really happy living in an apartment in Mission Valley where she can be with a large group of SDSU students but still avoid some of the pitfalls of being right on campus.

“I definitely think if I lived closer to campus that it would probably be a bigger distraction (academically) for me,” Gonzalez said. “People would probably be in and out, trying to coax me into doing things.”

For all the advantages, living away from the university does not come without its drawbacks.

Gonzalez admitted that by living near campus she would be better informed about what activities were going on so that she could get the most out of her college experience.

“Last year, I liked to go to the basketball games and baseball games and, this year, I noticed I didn’t go to nearly as many as I would have if I’d lived closer,” Gonzalez said. “So I probably missed out on that, but if I really wanted to I could have made the effort.”

While this is an acceptable sacrifice for Gonzalez, for Bradbury, getting further away from typical university events is not a downside but an advantage of moving away.

“I felt like I was missing out on things (before I lived near SDSU) because I really didn’t spend that much time on campus,” Bradbury said. “But living this close to campus has made me realize that a lot of the events on campus are not really worth going to anyway.”

Some students have never even attempted the College Area life and instead choose to live at home or move straight into an off-campus apartment. Chicana/o studies and comparative literature junior Jennifer Gutierrez lives with her parents in El Cajon and has never been tempted by basketball games or the late night parties of Fraternity Row.

In fact, it’s the constant pressure to party and the lack of experiences outside the typical mainstream college life that are big distractions for her.

“There’s the whole partying thing and the expectation of partying,” Gutierrez said. “Maybe if I found the right area or the right crowd it would be different, but with the majority of people I’ve met (who live in College Area) it’s been like that.

“The fact that College Area is lame has an impact,” Gutierrez said. “But it’s mostly financial.”