Pontiac trail is kind of long, so narrowing it down would help. Generally, close to campus on or near Pontiac trail ain't great. The farther away you get, the better, and a couple of miles should be sufficient to be reasonably nice.
With regard to East of 23 vs West, certainly, the cool factor goes up the closer you get to A2, but west Ypsi is only 5 mi from campus/downtown, so it's not like you are in the boonies. There are some nice little neighborhoods on the west side of Ypsi, and the price of houses to buy is about 20-30% less, depending on numerous factors.
A roommate shouldn't be a problem either way. When I first moved into the area, I moved into a house (renting) southeast of Ypsi, due to low price. This is a long way from campus and low on the cool factor meter. I was the second person to call about the room, but the guy I rented from said he had 200 calls that day. He had been renting steadily for 5 years, only to young professional people, and had no trouble finding acceptable candidates. If you own anywhere in the area, you will be in the driver's seat 'cause housing around here is just crazy.
You'll be okay in the area you put an offer on, but just moving 1 or 2 mi east and north, and not actually being any farther from the med center (since you are 3 mi south where you are), you could save a pile of money.
As the other poster and I have said, there are really no "bad" areas of A2/west Ypsi, so it's all a matter of getting something you like for what you can afford. It was impossible to get something I liked, that I could afford by the Med Center, but west Ypsi fit the bill.
