The city is notorious for having less and less space these days. Real Estate development has gone vertical in order to maximize the use of space. High Density apartments and tenements have been on the rise and there is a premium on single detached housing units, even those located just outside of the city. These days, garages have become integrated in the homes. While it used to be that garages have had their own space detached from the house and roll up garage doors were the norm, these days especially in town homes, the garage is part of the housing unit itself and the use of roll up garage doors is more practical. In fact, roll up garage doors have been integrated in today’s modern homes as they are designed in the same color scheme as the home. Light weight composite materials, aside from aluminum have also been en vogue, making them virtually maintenance free. These materials are also dent free and are space savers as well. In some cases of very highly dense cities, cars have adjusted to the garage sizes.
Tokyo is one of the densest cities in the world with a premium on property. Cars are designed to fit into their one car garage, which is just enough for the driver to alight using the sliding door of the passenger’s side if not the trunk door of their van. Such examples of these cars or vans can be seen in the Toyota Previa, which is the Lucida in Japan and the Mitsubishi Delica, which are narrower and have higher roofs.
Other areas have converted their garages into spare rooms which owners may rent out to earn extra money. This is prevalent in cities like Sydney, Australia where in the city suburbs, there have been renovations of garages, insulating them and adding showers and toilets, and making a spare room or two for lease. There are lots of people who work in Sydney but are originally from other provinces, even other countries. Looking for inexpensive places to live in, they often rent these converted garages in the suburbs since they are cheaper then renting an apartment. Living in converted garage areas are also popular for recent immigrants who stay in garages owned by people who are from the same country. It is also a good immersion and integration process for them as well. It’s like hitting two birds at the same time for you because you are able to earn from your free space at the same time help others.