Living in Lund: Vildanden

N.B: This entry is a part of a series of student accommodation reviews directed at new students looking for apartments in Lund. Lund(on) Times is not affiliated with AF Bostäder, LU Accommodation or any other apartment rental service. More visual material may be added in the future. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Pros	Cons
+ Close to central station, Nova Lund shopping center	- Far from campus, nations (location on map)
+ Large social spaces & kitchens	- Unpredictable layout
+ Own bathroom & shower	- Can be expensive (~4,000SEK per month)
+ Good social atmosphere, quiet and peaceful too	- Shared kitchen

Click here for AFB's information on Vildanden

Most of Lund is located on one side of the train station (the east side). Everything that happens in Lund, happens in the East. Just like in ancient Egypt, where the people lived only on the eastern side of the Nile. Much like ancient Egypt, the western side of town represents nothing but wasteland and death to most people. However, a single AFB complex resides on that side. A rather large one too, rivaling Delphi in the quantity of apartments.

Figure 50. Deborah's room seems far narrower than other AFB rooms.

Deborah and Tivea both moved into Vildanden at the beginning of last fall. While the distance is the most annoying thing for them, they appreciate some of the basic offerings of Vildanden flats that might be harder to secure in town.

"We have a smaller kitchen for 12 people, two stoves and two sinks," Tivea explains how his corridor is structured. "In my place it depends on each corridor regarding design, its easy to go around the kitchen but in other corridors the design is narrower so moving around is hard. Other corridors have it harder than me though.”

“I noticed it was close to the central station and I wanted to be near that," Deborah explains her decision. "I also applied to Sparta and Delphi, I applied for ones with showers and bathrooms, that was my only priority.”

Figure 51. The long and narrow shape still allows for modest decorating. Deborah mostly wishes she had more storage space.

When considering the distance to the town center, one would imagine all the services to be far away too. That is not the case though, and in fact many stores unavailable in the middle of town can be found in Nova Lund.

“I like living here because its near to this smaller grocery store, one minute away. If you want more stuff, you can always go to a larger supermarket in Nova Lund which is 5 mins away," Tivea says.

“I really love it. Its really chilled atmosphere, so its not dead," Deborah says happily. "We are close to the central station. You have Nova Lund, supermarkets, Systembolaget which closes later than the one in town. There is also a pharmacy, and many other things. Blekingska nation is really close, which is a nation good for chilling if not partying.”

Figure 52. The windows here are definitely smaller than elsewhere. Saving energy seems to be on the agenda here in the cold west.

Both Tivea and Deborah express the price being the worst thing. Deborah also brings up the distance to the other nations in town as a major issue.

“Its not far by bus, but by bike is a bit frustrating," Tivea specifies, when asked how he manages the distances.

Well, we can't always have anything. At least it is quiet and a calm area, away from all the hustle of Delphi and Parentesen. 

Figure 53. & 54. A spacious entrance, and a well laid out bathroom. The bathroom entrance is on the left when walking into the room

“I like the quietness, but its alive. The location all in all is good. Its never too loud here either.” Deborah goes on to say, taking back her judgement on the location a bit.

“I hardly hear anything," Tivea agrees. 

In many ways, Vildanden is a kind of Delphi light edition. It is smaller, even more secluded, has slightly less frequent parties, and is very silent. If one can bear being far away from everybody else, Vildanden is a great place to live and do your own thing at.