You’re living in a townhouse as part of an apartment complex. The apartment complex has benefits such as a pool and hot tub, indoor gym, full size basketball court, a library, and a garden. You have 2 other roommate/coworkers, and you have 6 neighbor/coworkers. A Labor neutrality agreement is guaranteed, and both tenant unions and labor unions will be voluntarily recognized.
I mean that is a higher pay package than what I got as a PhD student ($16-18/hr before tax, nearly no benefits) so there was no way I’d have said no to that… At this point no, but it’s only because my total compensation is a lot higher, and I could have afforded such a living arrangement and still have more leftover money
If the compensation is comparable, I probably wouldn’t mind either way. But then I don’t have a family so…
Fun fact, there are actually a few NYC-based PhD programs which provide heavily subsidized student housing (mostly on Roosevelt Island I believe), conditions are somewhat parallel to what you proposed