Living in Princeton

Housing

Fellows are expected to be in residence at Princeton or the local vicinity for the entire academic year, or demonstrate to the program’s satisfaction the ability to be on campus on a daily basis and on short notice in order to fulfill responsibilities relating to in-person participation. Princeton is a small town with limited furnished rental opportunities, and while Princeton University maintains a number of rental units that might become available, larger apartments (with more than one bedroom) suitable for families are generally not furnished, for instance those in the new Merwick-Stanworth complex are unfurnished. You may preview both on-campus and off-campus options at Princeton’s Faculty and Staff Housing website.

If you are interested in on-campus housing options, please contact Yolanda Sullivan and she will put you in touch with the Faculty and Staff Housing Office. They will then send you a link to the password-protected housing application portal. On-campus housing assignments are generally made in June. If you are interested in residing in Olden House, a university guest house suited for individual visitors and couples, you can apply for this option via the Olden House interest form. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the housing office directly or Yolanda. Most Fung Fellows received offers for on-campus housing, primarily in the Olden House or Merwick-Stanworth complex, though this cannot be guaranteed. Others found furnished sublets from faculty on leave via the off-campus housing site, others rented apartments or houses in town. Several fellows bought furniture from IKEA or similarly inexpensive stores, other visitors rented furniture via CORT at a Princeton University rate.

You can view the off-campus housing listings by logging in with your current email address as a guest user on the Off-Campus Housing Website, before you receive your Princeton Net ID. This is where local landlords or people looking to sublet list their apartments/houses. If you find something you are interested in, contact these people directly. More offerings should be posted later in the spring. Please note that current and past visitors to campus have frequently found it difficult to obtain a 10-month lease for off-campus housing, since many landlords prefer a 12-month lease or longer. Often, however, there is a bit of room for negotiation, perhaps with flexibility on both ends. Please note that with a J-1 visa, you may arrive up to 30 days prior to your start date and also have a grace period of 30 days thereafter.

Besides these off-campus listings, there are other resources for your housing search and other aspects of living in Princeton which you might find useful. While Princeton is a small town, it covers a relatively large area, and many businesses or apartment complexes include the Princeton name, which can be misleading. In case of doubt about a location, be encouraged to consult a map or feel free to check in with the housing office or Yolanda to make sure that a specific location is advisable and can indeed be reached by foot or public transit.

Tiger Trade, run by the Princeton student government, useful for all kinds of second hand purchases, but also includes some sublets
Craig’s List (for Central New Jersey, so including locations too far away), which also includes listings for housing
SabbaticalHomes lists sublet opportunities offered by academics, mostly entire houses in our area, often somewhat expensive
Airbnb
Princeton Online, a good general resource, with much to offer for families, but also some housing
The Princeton Packet, a local newspaper, see classifieds for housing
Town Topics, Princeton’s weekly publication
Last, but not least, the Princeton’s township website for general information
There are quite a few realtors in Princeton who might also be able to assist you, should you wish to work with those, let me know, and I can send you some addresses or links. Realtor.com has many listings by realtors (though, so far, I have not seen much in terms of furnished places in Princeton).

Finding a place in either walking or biking distance to campus would surely be preferable, but in this context, you might also think about other transportation options. Princeton University provides a free campus shuttle, Tiger Transit. There are some public buses and trains by the New Jersey Transit system, and also a car sharing service. Should you think about owning a car during your time here, see information on the need to obtain a U.S. driving license on the Davis International Center’s website. For renting a car, current fellows have found it best to bring and use an international license initially.