It’s that time of year again. Just as Binghamton University students are starting to feel settled into the new semester, they must make a decision of where they will be living next year.

In the midst of the familiar rush, the Editorial Board would like to offer students moving off-campus a piece of advice: weigh your choices. Don’t be too quick to buy into the “luxury” student living complexes popping up all over Downtown Binghamton. Consider all your options.

There are advantages to living in an off-campus house, rather than a student apartment building. For one, you get to live in an actual neighborhood, with schools and parks and Binghamton residents. Rent in these houses is unbelievably cheap — individual rooms often go for under $400 a month — and some landlords even include utilities in the price of rent.

It’s important to learn how to pay your own bills and fix your own toilets. Now is the time, while you’re still in the relative safety of college, to learn how to be a real life adult. Now is the time to live in a house with your friends and figure out how to pay your rent on time, how to keep fruit flies out of your kitchen and how to not spend $100 at Wegmans every week.

It’s also an opportunity to engage with the local community by becoming an actual resident. Don’t be afraid to venture into your neighborhood, to meet the people who live here. We urge you to understand Binghamton from a new perspective that doesn’t involve peering at the city from an un-openable, albeit large, glass window.

The Editorial Board does not have a problem with housing complexes like Twin River Commons and 20 Hawley on their own. Rather, it is what they stand for. These buildings promote gentrification in Downtown Binghamton by exclusively serving students. They are glossy, resident assistant-free extensions of on-campus living, and keep the divide between students and locals prominent. When students decide to move off-campus, it should not be to only be closer to State Street, but instead to be a part of the larger community.

Downtown Binghamton is at a crossroads right now, as luxury complexes continue to pop up. Students will have to decide whether they want to live in a college town, or a college in a town.