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turnover at the Yellow House. Both have masters
degrees in jazz performance and the couple currently
live together in an apartment in Brandon.
“We took our apartment over music students too,”
said Pokrant, who works as a teacher in Boissevain.
Such is the nature of student housing, but it also
happens to be, “The best way to find housing too,
though,” Pokrant said.
Teerhuis, who is a musician in the city, said it is usually
easier for tenants to find someone they know, while
landlords don’t have to worry about posting an ad.
The experience seemed to define university in a sense
and, “For musicians,” Teerhuis said, “if you’re not so-
cially active with the people you’re playing with then
the music is not going to be great.”
But generally speaking, student’s don’t have a lot of
money either, Brown said.
“We’re working part-time, minimum-wage jobs to get
ourselves through, we’re relying on loans and grants
from government, we’re relying on scholarships to pay
our way. That means we’re looking for the cheapest
options possible at all times, and a big part of that is
housing.”
Brown lived in McMaster Hall residence for most of
his university career and currently lives in an apart-
President of the Brandon University Students' Union ment off campus.
Nick Brown stands outside of his long-time home Prior to landing his current home, Brown looked at a
McMaster Hall. few places, including a basement unit where he nearly
put his foot through a vinyl floor that was suspended
studies complex seen in full view from the living room. on top of wooden beams and dirt.
But even before she moved in with her two room- A couple of weeks later, Brown found a room at an
mates, Ziprick spent a year living next door at the affordable price in a four-bedroom house, but was
corner of Princess Avenue and 18th Street, at a home later dissuaded by the peeling floorboards and the
that for decades was a music student homestead. appearance of mold behind the toilet and shower
Housing at least five people at any given time, the head.
aptly-named Corner House — along with another “Those are the places that students are living in,” he
downtown location off Rosser Avenue called The Loft, said.
named for its massive amount of space — both Students will still sacrifice cleanliness for affordability
received widespread notoriety for their huge parties and even today, Brown said he has friends who are liv-
and reputations as music student hangouts. ing in a five-bedroom home and paying as little as
“My first-year party for music happened in that $150 a month in rent.
house,” said Nick Brown, president of the Brandon “We’re able to find the deals, they’re out there,” he
University Students’ Union. said, “but the house they’re living in is not a quality es-
Brown is a music student himself and a transplant tablishment.”
from Ontario who first moved to Brandon in 2011. Recent developments in Brandon have given students
Throughout his time in school, Brown has seen music a few more options to work with, including a newly-
student homes pop up across the city, along with one built set of modern apartments in the south-end of the
home for students in psychiatric nursing. city called The Groves, located by Sycamore Drive and
The trend appears to be two-fold: students want to Tracey Street. BU is also working on a downtown proj-
live with the people they know and it lessens the ect with the University of Winnipeg Community Re-
burden of having to find a place elsewhere. newal Corporation to develop housing and
Ziprick’s predecessors, Megan Pokrant and Aren commercial space.
Teerhuis, say it was rare that there would be full But even the aforementioned Corner House and The

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