Woodbridge: underrated or just unheard of? You decide!

Location: 431 Riverside Drive
Nearby dorms: St. A’s, Schapiro, the 600s, River (sort of).
Stores and restaurants: Morton William’s, a halal cart, Sweetgreen, Starbucks, Shake Shack, Pret.

Cost: standardized to $9,538 per year

Amenities:

Bathrooms: Sink, toilet, and bathtub, one per suite. Bathrooms are cleaned once a week by Facilities, but they don’t touch your stuff so unless you move it off the sink/bathtub they generally just do the toilet.
AC/Heating: Heating, but no AC.
Kitchen/Lounge: Each suite has its own kitchen. There are no floor lounges, but each suite has a large room that can be used as a common space or a second bedroom.
Laundry: Free; in the basement; accessible only via elevator.
Fire Escapes: None.
Gym: There’s a fitness room on the first floor.
Bike Storage: None.
Intra-transportation: One slow elevator; stairs.
Hardwood/Carpet: Linoleum in the kitchens, carpet in the rest of the suite. (Unless you’re in one of the rare renovated suites, which have hardwood floors.) Upper floors have nicer carpets.

Room variety:

There are six singles and 78 doubles, but most residents make their common space a bedroom to create two singles.
Housing divides the suites into low demand, medium demand, and high demand suites for lottery purposes.
High demand: H, K, C lines. H and C suites face the river and have plenty of large windows. K suites face 114th and are slightly larger.
Low demand: G, D, I lines. G and D suites are shafted and I suites face 114th, but they’re all small.
Medium demand: all the others.

Numbers:

High demand 2018 cutoff: 30/2012 (2017: 30/2503)
Medium demand 2018 cutoff: 20/110 (2017: 20/157)
Low demand 2018 cutoff: 20/2994 (2017: 20/2820)

Bwog recommendation:
Woodbridge is a great option for seniors who want an apartment-style space—the high-demand suites are spacious, with great views. The hill from Riverside to Broadway can feel long, especially in the winter, but Riverside is quieter than Broadway. Plus, it’s nice walking along Riverside for a bit before cutting over to Broadway. Even the medium and low-demand suites are pretty nice, especially for rising juniors. Woodbridge is also good for anyone who doesn’t want corridor-style housing but only got one other person to be in their housing group.

Resident opinions:

  • “I do not like that my room doesn’t get sunlight, so beware of which suites you choose!”
  • “Also, it gets really windy on 115th.”
  • “Having an apartment you share with one other person is incredible.”
  • “Sometimes it gets too hot, even in the winter, so we have to open some windows.”

Photos via Bwog