Once again, this scenic area of Boston has been chosen as the best off-campus housing area. The reasoning? One word: location. The apartment area is in the hub of Boston, and provides easy access to movie theaters (Copley and the Fenway), shopping facilities (the Prudential and Copley), and more restaurants and eateries than Marv Albert has toupees.

It provides easy access to public transportation, as both the green and orange lines are nearby. Don’t feel like taking the train? Not a problem; the Back Bay has more taxis drive within its vicinity than most of the other areas of the city. You are far away from campus where one can feel a sense of independence, but close enough that one can still stay in the loop of the goings-on around the university. And that’s not even mentioning the actual apartment area itself.

One such spot, known as the Greenhouse, sports a swimming pool, exercise facility, and some of the nicer spots in all of Beantown. The price is a little steep, but not that much more than living on campus. Some may even say that the prospect of paying a few extra dollars to avoid some of the residential fees and/or staff is worth its weight in gold (i.e. gatherings in the area are not uncommon).

So if you sleep on turning in that housing form, don’t get a lottery number and are stuck scavenging the Greater Boston area, don’t stress; just take a look at Back Bay.

— Evans Erilus