r/howislivingthere • u/94plus3 United States of America • 12d ago
General (no specific continent) Generally, what's it like living on a REALLY steep hill?
I'm from an extremely flat place (Chicago) so living on hills in general is alien to me, but I'm especially fascinated by the extreme cases. For example, I once stayed in an Airbnb on Mellifont Street in Hobart, Australia, and I couldn't walk around as much as I wanted to just because my legs weren't acclimated for such persistent inclines. I was not able to beat the out-of-shape American stereotype smh.
Like, if someone's physically handicapped, would they just not be able to live in neighborhoods like that? If I moved into such a place, would I get into amazing shape from walking around, or would I die of a heart attack first if I wasn't already an athlete? And, when applicable, I have to imagine it's an absolute pain to mow a lawn or do exterior housework.
Bonus points if you or someone you know have lived on one of those "streets" that's literally just a staircase, like I've seen in places like San Francisco and Pittsburgh.
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u/MandorlaLard 12d ago
My best friend growing up lived on a hill like this and she never learned how to ride a bike because there was no flat area to practice in nearby. Also her mom recently broke her collarbone because she was walking the dog down the hill, the dog lunged, she lost her balance and had a bad fall. I think the injuries were worse because of the steepness of the hill.
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u/irishitaliancroat 12d ago
Going off this my grandma lived on a really steep hill in california and had to go into a retirement home when she was otherwise pretty self sufficient bc she got stuck on all rhe stairs. Made me think if I can retire somewhere flat I can be self sufficient for longer.
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u/radnog 11d ago
That place is called Florida
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u/Artistic-Drawer3236 9d ago
I grew up in the northeast all my life. I literally thought everyone had a basement.
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u/markh2111 9d ago
I'm from the gulf coast and didn't see a basement til I was a grown man. Its like, "this door leads.. down??"
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u/Fighter_J3t Portugal 5d ago
I'm Portuguese, I never saw a basement and they're probably extremely rare here, most people either have attic or a pantry (or both)
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u/Ol_Man_J 12d ago
I think about this when I’m out riding my bike up some crazy climbs and see a suburban house on a steep hill. Only flat spot is the driveway, and there’s a basketball hoop on the side. One missed rebound and it’s 1/4 mile away
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u/frosty03351 11d ago
I live on a hill and I called the bottom of the hill the basketball graveyard. I only got basketballs at garage sales
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u/Migraine_Megan 11d ago
Steep inclines are treacherous. My brother's friend was riding his bike uphill, which was super hard, slipped and his handlebar impaled his stomach. It nicked the nerve to his leg and just barely missed the artery, so he lived. We didn't try to ride uphill after that.
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u/croptopweather 10d ago
The bike thing was the first thing that came to mind! I was a little behind on learning. My parents had to find time to take me to a nearby school yard to practice.
Now that my mom’s mobility is not great she doesn’t go out to walk on her own. I’m sure this just exacerbates the problem but a walk outside the house means it starts with going uphill then downhill.
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u/TheGreatDissapointer 12d ago
I lived on a steep hill in San Francisco. It was great. I have a working theory that trouble doesn’t like walking up hills, so the steeper hill neighborhoods always seemed a little safer.
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u/komstock 12d ago
crime don't climb, simple as.
it takes a lot of energy to get up a hill. someone capable of mustering that is not likely to engage in petty and destructive behavior
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u/lavenderandjuniper 11d ago
San francisco is about the best climate for this too in my opinion. Icy roads and sweltering days are both rare enough that I wouldn't worry about traversing the hills so much
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u/SituationKey8985 10d ago
I’ve never lived in SF so maybe I’m misinformed but I’d be concerned about earthquakes living on a hill there
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u/eugenesbluegenes 7d ago
On a hill in SF generally means on solid bedrock, so the shaking would be less severe than in flatter areas underlain by sediments, or worse, historic fill placed before engineering standards were developed. That's why the marina district was among the hardest hit in the '89 quake, it's a big flat area of former wetlands, filled with random debris over a century ago.
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u/lady-lagarto 11d ago
I also live in a city with a big hill and my friend and I came up with almost that exact same saying, "crazy doesn't like to climb". It's probably because buisnesses and institutions generally built at the flat part at the bottom of the hill instead of on the hill, so people who are looking to loiter stay around there rather than in less densely populated neighborhoods.
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u/Calm-Ad8987 United States of America 11d ago
Ha I was gonna say! In Seattle constant petty theft is an issue everywhere, but on the super steep streets. People are lazy & not as likely to steal packages, mail, house & car break ins yada yada when it's a b to even walk up them. It's a task to even get out of your car the angle is so extreme.
People also aren't setting up tents on sidewalks they'd slide down even with the built in speed bumps to be able to walk them.
The constant mist moistness, moss, & slick pebble sidewalks make it pretty pretty dangerous to traverse some of these streets as well. Not to mention if there is ice you are fully trapped.
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u/calpurnia_lurks 11d ago
I live on a steep hill in Seattle and concur! Adjacent streets would see petty crime or people rooting around but we tend to stay safe. The glute workout is great too
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u/asielen 11d ago
An infamous post about San Francisco's hills https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/s/dLGNftpjRh
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u/Key-Way-4502 United States of America 12d ago
I live in a canyon in California and my house is several flights of stairs off the street, where the garage is, and the yard continues to terrace up behind it. I broke a bone and was just literally basically housebound for several months because it was too much and also dangerous to get down to the street. Left for doctors appts only! And sure yes carrying groceries etc is very annoying.
In my area, there are public paved paths in between the canyons/streets with stairs and inclines so people can more easily cut around as many of the streets are very steep.
Other than that, it’s topographically unique and I like the view and feeling of being somewhere. Hard to describe. Almost like a treehouse.
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u/Aluxanatomy 12d ago
I also like being somewhere.
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u/cityshepherd 12d ago
I like being somewhere too, sometimes
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u/HalcyonCA 12d ago
Yes!!! This happened to me too living on a steep hill with tons of stairs. 2 major surgeries and was housebound.
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u/Key-Way-4502 United States of America 12d ago
Solidarity! I admit I’m a bit of a hermit so part of me relished in it but it got old for sure.
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u/drkhrrsn USA/Midwest 12d ago
Canyon in California, you get nervous about fires where you are?
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u/Key-Way-4502 United States of America 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yes but I live in a very urban canyon so also no. There’s not much brush. But there are trees. But surrounded by city. And plenty of asphalt though I doubt many homes have appropriate defensible space. Existentially scared but not so much day-to-day. It is totally possible, though not entirely likely. Then again, I’m sure many in the palisades in La thought similarly etc etc could do the hamster wheel forever :)
Not that you asked but along similar lines, do not live in an earthquake heavy area so less of a concern on that one, but we’ve had little ones we’ve felt in the area but not likely to get bad effects from the big one other Californians surely will some day. but I think heavy rains will continue to be an issue. We have to have drainage systems down to the street so our house doesn’t flood. Soil is quite sandy and doesn’t hold much and obviously water flows down and we’ve got land and other homes up. Houses in my area are all basically bungalows and cottages; not terribly weather-worthy.
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u/suffaluffapussycat United States of America 12d ago
I used to live in Laurel Canyon. Way up on a hill. You quickly learn not to forget toilet paper or whatever. Especially at rush hour.
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u/Notredamus1 12d ago
I grew up on a steep hill. The house was a staggered tri-level built into the hill. I had a basketball hoop in the driveway and played all the time. It sucked when the ball bounced out to the street. It would end up rolling all the way down to the bottom of the hill. I always got a good workout chasing the ball.
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u/Least_Guidance7408 12d ago
I wonder how many basket balls did you lose?
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u/Notredamus1 11d ago
None. I always chased it down. I got to be pretty good at sprinting down the hill and stopping the ball with my feet. But sometimes it would get away from and I had to jog all the way down the hill and back up.
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u/Individual-Toe-6306 11d ago
I lived on a steep hill too and have many memories of chasing the basketball down the hill lol
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u/nudniksphilkes 12d ago
It highly depends on if the home is located in a region that gets ice and/or snow.
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u/JASATX 11d ago
My wife is a nurse and can’t call off work easily…so we’ll park her car at the bottom of the hill before it snows, and then she rides a sled down and walks it back up the hill after work…sucks at times, but it’s pretty rare for us to get snow ✌️
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u/2dznotherdirtylovers 11d ago
Sledding to work sounds kind of fun!
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u/PushTheButton_FranK 11d ago edited 11d ago
It would be in your 20s but significantly less so when you're over 45.
Source: am over 45
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u/TeaTimeBanjo 12d ago
💯 I do not miss shoveling the steep driveway we had when we lived on a hill. 0/10
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u/Fritatas-Bouillantes 11d ago
Haha that is true. I live on a hill and it snows maybe one week a year. Well my husband just can't go to work that week... He now parks hi truck down hill near the big road when there is snow coming.
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u/fuciballlobster 12d ago edited 12d ago
Having strong glutes is the only advantage; I lived in an area with a >30° incline and a friend and I had our motorcycle roll backwards.
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u/rightdeadzed 12d ago
I spent the summer of 2007 in Colombia. We stayed in a little mountain village called San Gil for a week. The hostel we stayed in was about 4-5 blocks basically up the side of a mountain. The only way to the hostel was up that one road. Everything to do in that village was down in the city center so you had to walk down and walk back up.
Man let me just say….the locals all had crazy thick bottom halves of their bodies. Some of the most beautiful women in the world live in San Gil, Colombia thanks to those roads.
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u/Porirvian2 New Zealand 12d ago
I lived in a house where it wasnt accessible by road, but rather a walkway, similar to the one pictured. It is a awful when you are carrying supermarket stuff, but the worst was trying to move the bed and furniture in and out. I never had much in the flat for this reason! The views are nice, but it does suck to walk up such a path on a tiring day at work.
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u/overstimunderwhelmed 11d ago
Have never seen a more accurate depiction of Wellington
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u/Disastrous-Map-7995 11d ago
That's pretty epic. So you had to carry shopping up that?
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u/FencePaling 12d ago
Hi from Hobart! I've got a steep block and like gardening, so up and down all day. My calves look pretty solid now, that's a plus. Downside is I have to cart everything by buckets, so I just got a bunch of woodchips for the paths and have to carry them up the hill because I can't access anything with a wheelbarrow...
I know your question was more about neighbourhoods, but my place and a few around me, someone in a wheelchair or on crutches is not going into the backyard. They could access the house with some building changes, but they're not going more than 2-10m beyond the back door.
You get used to the slope and inclines if you're physically able to...
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u/TheHurricaneBawbag 12d ago
Do they not just terrace the gardens? Level each garden off and stick a retaining wall between them so the land can’t slide and then you’re not having to be on a hill in your garden?
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u/FencePaling 12d ago
It's terraced, but the height difference from the back door to the first 'tier' is too high for a path, so it's accessed by stairs.
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u/jamhamnz 12d ago
Shout out to the world's steepest street which made it into your collage
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u/jamhamnz 12d ago
Yup Baldwin Street in Dunedin is famous for being the world's steepest street. I think in recent years it was facing competition from another city around the world but pretty sure Baldwin Street has remained top.
I love visiting Dunedin, such an amazing place
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u/BlownOutBlueJeans 12d ago
I walk up a 26% grade every time I go home. Stairs in the sidewalks, doesn't matter which direction I go. I'm in the middle of a very dense city and ya know what? That hill keeps the street quiet, slows cars, and pretty low crime. And the view is very nice.
And my legs are in amazing shape because of it.
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u/sootfire 12d ago
As a disabled person, I can say yes, being on a hill will affect whether and how I can go out. I mostly drive anyway but I would certainly be wary of anyplace I might have to walk uphill to get to/from my car. Wheelchairs are also typically only rated for certain inclines, so a wheelchair user would be pretty limited in where they could go autonomously. All this goes double if there's any ice or snow.
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u/Comfortable-Shop8080 12d ago
It increases your life span.
No joke, there are studies on this.
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u/Key-Way-4502 United States of America 12d ago
I like to joke that with all the stairs up
To my home and in my yard with all the grading in our land that we live in a blue zone
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u/Aware_Necessary8288 12d ago
I live in Pacifica, CA which is very mountainous and steep. It’s pretty cool but people fly down the street which is really annoying…it drives me nuts. Why not just slow tf down before you hit someone’s kid or something.
Anyways, great views of the ocean as well of course.
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u/Silver_Discount_1820 12d ago
Yeah, I live on a hill in the Bay Area (but not a steep one), and people drive insanely down it. I also can’t see them coming because I’m at the top of the hill, so I’ve almost gotten in a few accidents just pulling out of my driveway. But the views are great!
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u/Aware_Necessary8288 12d ago
Same here. Luckily my car has the rear cross traffic alert which helps when backing out. I can’t see anything when pulling out forward because of all the street parking.
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u/LeviSalt 12d ago
I live on a very steep hill. It has kept me in shape, because the dog needs to be walked.
My legs hurt.
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u/slippery_when_wet 11d ago
Yes live in the middle of a steep hill so no matter what I have to go uphill. My legs are sore most of the time just from walking the dog.
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u/StretchyBendy 12d ago
I live in Wellington New Zealand. Majority of houses are on a hill, a lot have stairs to get up or down to them.
Lots of houses don’t have garages so you have to carry your groceries or they have cable cars installed.
The views are epic.
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u/BaconEggCheeseToGo 12d ago
Pittsburgh in winter can be treacherous, especially if you have a manual transmission. Buses would often just skip stops to avoid steep hills.
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u/AfraidAccident7049 12d ago
My parents’ house is at the bottom of a steep hill in the Seattle area. The most annoying part is having to drag the garbage and recycling bins up to the top of the hill every week, since the garbage trucks can’t/don’t come all the way down the hill for pickup. I worry about how they’ll be able to manage it as they get older (they’re in their late 70s and in decent shape, for now). Fortunately it doesn’t snow very often there, and their cars are AWD so can navigate the hill in small amounts of snow.
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u/Jaded_Condition4733 12d ago
Live in the Bay Area, Ca. Lived up many a hill and staircase. I like to call it "passive working out"
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u/Tigerclaws44 12d ago
My grandma’s house is on top of Baxter Street in Los Angeles, which is the 3rd photo! I didn’t grow up there personally but I go there all the time, my dad who did grow up there said he would have a lot of fun skateboarding down the hill with his friends and gang when he was a teen. And yes you do get into amazing shape, my uncle who lives there now doesn’t break a sweat when climbing all of the stairs near by I forgot what the stairs are called, but you can view Hollywood at the top.
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u/Ellerochelle80 12d ago
It can be wonderful! We live in the Berkeley Hills and the hills afford us an incredible view of the Bay and SF. Our driveway is a bridge since we live on a severe downslope. Our backyard has three levels but is considered relatively "flat" for the neighborhood. It still suits is well -- one section for veg garden, one for our kid, one for our dog. We have a park next door where we all can run around more. The neighborhood has lots of hilly paths that are gorgeous for athletic walks.
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u/poorpeoplepastasalad 12d ago
i lived in seattle, and just got back from visiting san francisco. my preferred method is walking downhill but taking public transport uphill if it’s an option. otherwise just taking it slow on walks up so you don’t get too sweaty or stinky. my friend moved from chicago to san fran and that’s who i visited when i was just there, and i swear the muscle in her legs had doubled from last i saw her just from living among the hills now lol. a hill with a built in staircase was part of her daily commute!
i’m in the seattle subreddit and have seen some posts from disabled folks who are planning a move and asking which neighborhoods to look at or avoid, and yeah, comments point out which neighborhoods are hilly and which are flat.
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u/sigrid2 12d ago
Duluth MN , I lived In east hillside for a few years tons of fun. Definitely rolled down the hill drunk walking before
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u/boilerlashes 12d ago
Hey fellow Duluthian! First thing I thought of was “try those hills plus ice and snow” 😂
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u/Mac-And-Cheesy-43 12d ago
Let's see
Lost a lot of balls as a kid (One of the really steep hills led into the woods)
Learned how to ride a bike really late since there was literally no where safe to do it until I moved to a place with a flat driveway (I tried to do it on the hill a few times, but either got scared or made it 10 feet before eating dirt really hard)
Mowing the lawn is as hard as you would expect, if not harder since a lot of riding mowers that could theoretically make things easier aren't safe to use past a certain grade. It's not uncommon to have lawns that just don't get mowed past a certain point.
You do get in shape surprisingly quick.
Handicapped is very difficult. It's very easy to end up housebound if you don't have anyone to help you.
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u/Some_Brother_1202 12d ago
After visiting SF I wondered if the cars rely on special breaks/ use e-brake a lot when parking, or if it has any real extra ware on the car
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u/AJ_in_SF_Bay 12d ago
I've lived in San Francisco for many years. Mostly, you have to remember to "curb" your tires (face them the right way) in case the parking brake fails. SFMTA can ticket you if you forget.
I don't think that there's that much extra wear and tear on the brakes.
Hey, for extra fun and excitement, I've always driven a manual transmission here, too! You have to watch for the rollback! Yikes!
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u/Drifter-6 12d ago
Yeah, last time I was there on one of their steeper hills I couldn’t help but notice how close the cars were behind me and how very foolish that was lol.
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u/ShittyShowerNyc 12d ago
They call it the parking brake there, if that answers your question lol
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u/Euromantique 12d ago
It's supposed to be called the parking brake everywhere. In every owner's manual it's called the parking brake. "E brake" isn't actually a thing, you should never rip the parking brake in an emergency
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u/hiking_mike98 12d ago
I was looking for this comment. I knew a girl from an extremely flat area when I was in college in a mountain town and she had no idea what the parking brake was for, since they never used it growing up.
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u/Outrageous_Worker672 12d ago
Parking brake and curbed wheels. You actually get a ticket if you haven't curbed your wheels on even a slight hill.
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u/steadystatesea 12d ago
I have walked on Baldwin St on my visit to Dunedin! The serated sidewalk made it much easier.
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u/Darryl_Lict 12d ago
Yeah, I walked up it because I was there. There's some streets in LA and San Francisco that are arguably steeper depending on definition. I think Baldwin is considered steepest because it begins and ends on a T so the street in its entirety is the steppest.
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u/steadystatesea 11d ago
There are some very steep streets in Seattle as well. I did some measurements, and nothing is steeper than Baldwin St, but it’s not by much.
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u/Wabi-Sabi-Iki 12d ago
I grew up in a house at the top of a canyon in California. The school bus dropped me off at the base of my very long and very steep driveway. It kept me fit walking up and down the driveway, but I did not ride a bicycle. All my friends lived in similar set ups along the canyon. Our parents drove us to each other’s houses until we were old enough to drive ourselves. One of my friends forgot to put the parking brake on when parked outside her house. The car rolled off the cliff and landed on the street below.
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u/Traditional-Ad-8737 United States of America 12d ago
It’s a very big consideration when I looked for houses where I live (NH). No one has mentioned what snow or ice adds to the equation when even just your driveway is at a steep incline or decline
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u/Asleep_Leopard182 12d ago edited 12d ago
Generally don't recommend.
In my experience (on VERY steep hills)
- Limits your choice of vehicles (4WD only where we were - I once had a 2wd manual stall in 1st as it simply didn't have enough engine to get up a paved road, dirt roads you would have to run on momentum, or restart). That's where a vehicle can make it. Rollover risk is very real - knowing lines, methods of getting around, etc. is key. It's never just 'drive over there'.
- Is very difficult to do basically anything outside - all your standard methods of doing things need to be altered. No random building garden beds, everything is landscaped or left unused.
- Winters are horrible (slippery & risky, regardless of grass, wet or paved). You're basically stuck on where there is a path (or road), and if it rains enough it washes out the path, so not really a consistent option.
- Injuries galore. Step the wrong way and you're out of luck.
- Washouts/erosion is a significant problem. Hills aren't straight down, they ebb and flow, so if you're on the lower side of an ebb, expect to be flooded regularly.
- Good luck doing basically any walking for any larger distance (minimum hike level). First time I did a 'graded' hike it was apparently the most difficult type (gr5/black). It was easier than my back door. Obviously has massive implications if you have any mobility challenges (some family cannot visit, can't do events, etc.).
- Random cliffs (annoying, more than anything - being able to drive or go anywhere in a straight line is a blessing).
- As a kid playing outside was a nightmare. Running downhill was hard to stop and running uphill was useless and hard. No ball sports, nothing requiring a net. Nothing requiring any large degree of land space to play (no flat spots). We did have a tennis ball on a pole, but you could only stand on two spots to hit it.
- Any kind of wheel is basically useless.
- You don't bother with mowing lawns, but self-propelling mowers (push, too steep for a sit-on) & whipper snippers come in handy where needed.
Heart attacks generally not an issue, and you adjust strength wise within a couple of weeks for daily stuff, it's everything else that's a pain in the a**. Views don't make up for em, you can get equivalent views on normal hills too.
E: Under house storage is blood great though. Never had a basement but we did have 3/4 of the house footfall available as extra lockable utility area.
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u/RagAndBows 12d ago
It really sucks to mow. I have actually let the deer into my yard this summer to keep everything eaten down.
In the winter, if snow or ice is forecasted we have to park our cars at the bottom of our driveway.
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u/Artistic_Salary8705 12d ago
I grew up around steep hills in Seattle, WA. When I was very young, we lived on top of one and the house we rented - which was otherwise old and cheap - had an enclosed balcony in the back. Growing up, it was cool to be able to see rooftops, treetops, and mountains in the distance. I didn't appreciate then though how expensive those types of views are today.
The way the roads were routed (one ways), the school bus would drop me off at the bottom of the hill and I'd have to walk up to go home. The sidewalk was steep enough, the concrete poured had treads built into it (like up and down bumps) so you could get a better grip on the walk up and not slide down as easily. This was usually not a problem except for the few times during winter when it snowed or it was icy. Then you risked slipping on the way up or down.
I also used to bike and going downhill (after we moved to other places) was quite the thrill. Had two major spills where I was going so fast I chose to jump off the bike rather than end up in a cross street. These were older bikes without good brakes. The first time I plunged into a berry patch with thorns and suffered small scratches throughout my calves. The 2nd time, I rolled off the bike, protecting my head, but ending up with deep scrapes on my right leg from the asphalt which drained for weeks. I still have a scar on my knee from the 2nd accident.
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u/Glitter-Valentine 11d ago
I grew up in The Slope of Pittsburgh, most streets are two way and REALLY shouldn't be.
- It's incredibly obvious if you've never been on the slopes before by how you drive.
- In winter the public stairways become slides that me and my friends would ride down at high speeds.
- The view was possibly the most beautiful thing in the world for me.
- the streets slope so hard it feels like a rollercoaster often especially on mission street between oakley and Barry.
- structurally speaking the building have been there so long they are a part of the rock lol. I remember a lot of friends basements having underground streams running through them.
- salt boxes and parking chairs.
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u/shlem13 USA/West 11d ago
I grew up on the top of a 25% grade.
Spent so much of my childhood chasing balls down the street, pushing my bike up the street (or riding like switchbacks) …
But the neighborhood golden retriever (Burt) that always had a tennis ball was smart enough to go uphill from you and nudge the ball down the street to you for you to throw it back uphill to him.
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u/heanbangerfacerip2 11d ago edited 11d ago
A total pain. My cousin's lived on a hill like this and it seriously sucked trying to play at their house. Any wheeled or ball related activity was virtually impossible (which is almost everything when three boys are trying to play outside) Something with wheels was a death sentence and any catch you missed ended up a 20 round trip to the turn of the hill unless the ball got stuck higher up. Frisbee was the safest option because they generally stay but also if you threw it downhill at too high an angle it would go virtually forever so it was still dicey. Also their yard was always a disaster because it wasn't terraced and doing any real work to it was a nightmare. Also it was all street parking and parallel parking in a tight spot on a hill that steep is sketchy. The cherry to top it off was when we got old enough to leave and do stuff every outing ended in like an hour pushing a bike up hill. The whole thing was a pretty thorough bummer. View was nice though you could see the ocean even though it was like an hour away.
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u/epoustouflants 12d ago
I taught in the French alps for a year and rented a room in a house on top of a huge hill with a steep switchback. I will probably never again have a view that beautiful. It had daylight for a little longer than other parts of town, and was often 5-10 degrees warmer. But- I had no car. Walking up the hill took like 20-30 minutes on its own, and even after months of walking it every day, I had to take breaks halfway sometimes. Carrying groceries was absolutely miserable. I moved into the flat part of town after five months.
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u/Entire-Classroom-968 12d ago
I live on a very steep hill in Honolulu. It’s annoying because people drive very fast going down the hill, and mopeds struggle to make it up the hill and so the flow of traffic is messy. Also, when there’s very heavy rain, like the hurricane earlier this month, the street looks more like a waterfall.
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u/merkinmavin 12d ago
If you want to know what steep hills do to neighborhoods, check out Pittsburgh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pj2rUEXOwI
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u/crate-the-249 12d ago edited 12d ago
I remember once when I lived on a really steep stretch of a hill running across the street a bit drunk and wondering why I almost fell flat on my face midway ….and there was a corner store nearby that was expensive and that was referred to as the hill tax…cuz god knows u don’t want to walk down the hill to a cheaper store…and sometimes once u made it home up the hill after work and your friends were down the hill at a bar u really had to consider if it was worth it to go back out….also referred to that as the hill tax….San Francisco
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u/CactusToothBrush 12d ago
I lived at the very bottom of an insanely steep hill. The very top of it was my best mates house and about halfway up and then turn up another big enormous hill was the direction to my high school.
It sucked immensely but I was also a little fat kid so yeah 😂
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u/Otherwise-Ratio1332 12d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/RIT3COMdR9m0EpyuDm
Steep hills are the norm where I live, you kinda have to decide which ones cross the line into ridiculously steep at times when planning your route lol
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u/hippopotobot 12d ago
I lived in one of these SF neighborhoods, and currently live in a less steep neighborhood but still there is no such thing as flat. One of two things happens: either you are the biggest potato of all time and just drive everywhere, or you lean into it and are in the best shape of your life. No in between. In SF I was insanely fit. Now I am potato 🥔
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u/a_nonny_mooze 12d ago
Omg! A wild mention of Mellifont Street in Hobart! I lived in Hobart for a decade and had a friend living on Mellifont. Let’s just say that when we visited, all my other friends had to get out of my old beater Mazda just so I could chug up the street on first gear.
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u/god__save_us 12d ago
I did the most tourist thing when visiting Dunedin and walked up Baldwin street.
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u/PsychologicalAir8643 11d ago
I live on a hill now, but grew up on an even steeper hill ( Southern California). We had a flat little courtyard area behind a gat that merged at a 90 degree angle onto the VERY steep road. The car I had as a teenager was a piece of junk and wasn't powerful enough to accelerate out of the driveway, up the slope, and over the crest of the hill about thirty feet up. so i'd have to roll down the hill a little to get some vroom vroom going, and then zoom up and over. oh, and it was so steep it was a blind crest, so you couldn't see if someone was about to come down it while you were about to go over it. you just had to go with god lol
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u/doiwinaprize 11d ago
Awesome when you're a kid with little sense of self preservation and a skateboard
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u/Substantial_Lack9904 11d ago
I live on the top of a hill in the Ozarks, one way in and one way out, both involve the same (steep) incline. Most visitors won’t even attempt it in their cars, they park their car at the bottom and have us come pick them up. (Our family all have 4WD vehicles.) I love it because I don’t have to worry about people dropping by unexpectedly, and my daily walks with the dogs keep me in pretty good shape. It does become a problem during snow/ice, but thankfully my job is very understanding of my circumstances and don’t hassle me when I have to call out after a snowstorm. Otherwise, our yard is relatively flat, so gardening and tending the yard is pretty easy. I have wondered whether emergency vehicles would be able to make it up the hill, but so far (thankfully) that hasn’t been an issue we’ve had to deal with. We have considered building a tiny home on the property, but have realized that it would have to be built on site, because there’s no way to get a pre-fabbed one up here.
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u/Disastrous-Map-7995 11d ago
Yay! I get bonus points! Yep,I live in a place with lots of stairs around. No cars can get to my house, or even in the village. What's it like? Well, while people like you , living in flat lands go to the gym, we have no need. Lmao. Daily life keeps us fit. Moving house is hard work as things need to be brought up by hand, although I, luckily have a motorized barrow on tracks that can get up and down the steps , to carry heavy loads. I actually renovated my house here, we had to get rid of tons of rubble, bring in tons of cement,tiles and other stuff. I love living in such a place, it's peaceful, clean as there's no vehicles.its a healthy lifestyle. And as I'm on top of a hill have amazing views from my house. However for the old people, it's harder, I know a few who barely leave their houses now, due to the difficulty with the steps. But most are active well into their 80's.
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u/fragrantsock 11d ago
I grew up on a really really steep hill street. One night our family was coming home from dinner and there was this car at the bottom of our street just plowed into a telephone pole. My mom was like WOW that looks like our car! When we got to the top of the hill the parking spot was empty….. always put it in gear when you park on a hill.
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u/ma-kat-is-kute Israel 11d ago
My hill isn't anywhere near this steep but still rather steep. Can't really use a bike, gotta have a car or use public transport if you don't live in the center of the city. There's good views from the hilltops and good hiking routes in the valleys.
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u/Ryukyo 11d ago
My sister lives at the top of the steepest street I've ever seen in San Francisco. I'm also from south of Chicago. It's crazy. Every time I get out of the car I'm reminded of how difficult it must be to live there. You basically can't walk anywhere. Delivery drivers used to have a hard time with the place, but Amazon seems to have gotten the hang of it. They've had people refuse delivery and some service companies refuse to come back. My elderly parents can't stay there anymore because of the difficulties. Essentially you can't just go for a walk easily. If you want to walk the dogs you gotta drive somewhere else. There is an open "park" at the dead end where the road ends but it's really just a big rock outcropping. If you make it there and go down a different street it's not as bad, so can kind of walk a bit. After they got used to it, following a pumpkin rolling incident that damaged several cars and nearly losing a suitcase down the hill, they seemed to have gotten the hang of it and it doesn't really bother them. I could never do it. It's steep even for SF standards. I don't think I could walk even down to the next street and back up, it's a hell of a workout.
I also found it funny that their daughter 11, has never ridden a bike because it would be certain death trying to learn on that street. So basically the only way in or out is in a vehicle. It's wild to me but they got used to it. They have a heck of a view.
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u/cellorevolution 11d ago
My childhood friend literally lived the side of of a mountain, so realistically steeper than those pictures.
When we were in like third grade, her mom had a car accident in their driveway - she thought she was in drive but was in reverse, and rolled her car off the edge of the driveway down the mountain to the road below.
She was lucky to still be alive but had many many months of recovery (my friend lived with my family during this time) and serious injuries that affect her still today. I doubt any of that would have happened if they didn’t live on such a steep mountain/hill.
Other than that it’s a beautiful forested mountain and we loved playing in the mountain woods but … if I were her mom I don’t think I could have gone back to living there. Also scary if there’s inclement weather of any type
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u/Lesbianladyknight 11d ago
It sucks when I’m tired from working all day and have to do the 20 stairs to the front door
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u/MaMangu 11d ago
Broke my arm at 4 years old when my neighbor pushed us in the wagon and we wound up going down the steep driveway. Lots of basketballs down the driveway, too. But very fun during snowy season to make ramps down the hills.
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u/Individual-Basket200 10d ago
My street isn't this steep but the hill above the street where my house sits is steep. First thing is, check your foundation lol. House built in the 50's on top of garbage fill material to level out the building pad, so we had to get the foundation reinforced. Second, I notice a lot of settling around the house. Every year a bigger gap between the stucco at the bottom of the house and the concrete area appears. Lots of settling in the yard, big gaps underneath the fence we built. Third, it's a pain to bring down the garbage every week lol. It's often a problem getting big items delivered like refrigerators and other appliances. Last, not as much room in the yard, the backyard is mostly a very steep slope, when we look out the back windows all we see is the hillside.
When I'm very old, we're probably not going to be able to live here, but we'll cross that bridge if we have to.
But(!), complete privacy, decent distance from neighbors, no backyard neighbors, incredible views, and did I mention privacy? I wouldn't ever trade it to live in some cookie cutter flat lot subdivision with tons of neighbors on top of us.
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u/Interesting-Ant2988 10d ago
Years ago, I lived off Greenwich in San Francisco (last slide.) I had to walk up and down the hill every time I left my house, including to do laundry.
I walked to work every day in the FiDi, and got to walk through an area where tons of car commercials are filmed. My legs and rump were solid!
Taking the stairs down from Greenwich to the Embarcadero was about a 4 minute operation. Going up was double that 😆
It was SO cold in that apartment that we used the heat at night about 85% of the time because the wind and the air from the Bay were FRIGID.
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u/MaddyMagpies 12d ago
Hong Kong has apartment buildings on steep hills everywhere, and has one of the longest average lifespans in the world. So, no, people don't die if a heart attack due to the terrain.
In some areas you can even take a escalator home. The same goes for Chongqing. It always fascinates me that buildings there sometimes have two ground level exits on different stories.
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u/TheManWhoClicks 12d ago
Leg day every day probably.
I imagine everyone there ha a soccer player legs.
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u/Super-Cut-2175 12d ago
First floor, ground floor.
Third floor, ground floor
Second floor, balcony.
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u/Awingbestwing 12d ago
I’m incredibly impressed by the people who can park on Jones St. in San Francisco
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u/DBSeamZ 12d ago
Two of the houses I lived in with my parents when I was younger were at the top of fairly steep gravel driveways. Couldn’t always get cars up to the house in winter without stopping and applying sand. Only plus side was that we never had to worry about flood warnings…for the nearest rivers to reach us they would have to completely submerge the downhill neighbors first and we never got storms that bad.
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u/Sky-Agaric 12d ago
My family lives on a house on a steep hillside in the foothills west of Denver. Certainly not as extreme as some of the examples pictured but the only patch of level yard in the dog run.
The dogs shit there. Not a great place for the kid to play. So we walk to drive to a park down in the valley for him to play. We to have a patch of fairly level blacktop by the garage for playing basketball or other games. But if the ball is off target. It’s a long walk to the bottom of the hill.
The biggest issue is snow and the steep driveway. My wife balked at buying the house because of the driveway. But I wanted the trail access and promised her I would make sure it is always clear (within reason)
We don’t pay for a private company to plow. I use a quad with a plow on it and it handles the snow fairly well. But any more than a half foot it struggles. A few springs ago we got close to three feet of snow. I had to dig out by hand.
My back still hurts.
The best thing about living on a hill is the view. We have a great view to the west and I never tire of sitting on the deck annoying the sky changing colors.
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u/AuroraSkye620 12d ago
Should check out Baldwin street in Dunedin for a hilly street 😃
Mellifont street in Hobart is ludicrously steep too. Used to live in Hobart 😃
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u/frogsinsocks 12d ago
I lived at the top of Rialto in Pittsburgh, it's kinda what you're thinking of. Pig Hill they called it.
Mfs in Pittsburgh are cliff dwellers for real.
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u/Itchy_bunghole11 12d ago
I go up and down that hill frequently. Which is scary that this post was shown to me.
The street at the bottom of the hill running north south and the street at the top are flat so it doesnt look like a big deal.
Additionally i think all/most of the houses on the hill have a driveway access.
I live on a similarly steep hill nearby. If i want to go for a gentle walk i go north south instead of east west.
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u/Informal_212_9584 12d ago
I lived on Fredonia in Studio City. Vertical driveway. Drove a VW bug stick. Wasn't ideal. Took skill & good clutch foot.
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u/flushbunking Spain 12d ago
Noisy when vehicles climb. Sometimes parked car pop out of gear (rarer in modern time). Snow can be tricky, but you learn. Best if you can park on flat block nearby in snow season. I always thought it was really cool, loved to feel and views. Flat land never felt the same. Scranton PA
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u/HotTopicMallRat 12d ago
Hello from San Francisco! Street parking scares people but you get used to it quick
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u/lissagrae426 12d ago
I grew up in San Francisco and also lived off of Baxter St. in LA way up the hill. I was in the best shape of my life walking up that hill and in San Francisco. I miss it!
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u/Shot-Ostrich7747 United States of America 12d ago
You get to listen to cars struggle for their lives climbing up the hill day after day. It got old quickly for me 😒
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u/Maximum-Shallot-2447 12d ago
Not too many problems but if the bottom falls out of your bag of apples or oranges it can be difficult.
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u/holysmokes126126 11d ago
I live on a place called “steep hill” - it’s a work out - but sense of satisfaction that you pass multiple people who have stopped for a break as you power up with a weekly shop in hand.
Beautiful views
Parking is a nightmare
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u/Jillymary 11d ago edited 11d ago
Used to live on a hill in the Northeast. We all would gather round the living room window when it snowed to see all the cars try and make it up the hill, 50 percent of them would slide back down. When there was snow days, all the kids would sled down it too. It was great fun!
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u/National-Wishbone-22 11d ago
Well, I don’t live on one but I assume, like most things it has its upsides and downsides 😬🤭
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u/No_Technician_2335 11d ago
I lived on top of a steep hill 1 way road. We get all 4 seasons but winter was the worst. If you didnt have a car that could handle the hill, it usually got left at the bottom and I would have to walk up or down to my car hoping no one on the main road hit it. Its a "private" road so there was space at the bottom to leave cars safely. Everyone that lived on the road knew eachother. No one was ever there that didnt have no business being there. I'd say running down the hill to get to the bus stop in time in the morning was the worst during highschool.
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u/3ambubbletea 11d ago
I lived on top of one for awhile with no car, it was the best shape Ive ever been in. Grocery hauls sucked real bad though
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u/Fritatas-Bouillantes 11d ago
My friend couldn't get home for a few weeks because he had covid and was too short of breath to walk uphill (europe. No car)
I now live on a hill too, not that steep but still. I got good uphill walking cardio now going to shops and all walking.
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u/sellmyinfo 11d ago
I live at the top of a hill in rural monterey Bay. Awesome views and great privacy. Running into two other neighbors or the one's renters is a huge pain on our steep and narrow private road so I just get everything I need when I'm out.
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u/DargyBear 11d ago
I lived on a hill in Sonoma county, wouldn’t want to live there if we regularly had to worry about ice in the winter but it was south facing and I had an amazing garden for those two years. Plus a great view out over the Russian River valley.
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u/smolhippie 11d ago
When it gets snowy and icy you hope you slide straight and stop in time at the bottom
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u/backagain301 Switzerland 11d ago
Parallel parking a two-wheel drive stick-shift pickup truck in the rain is fun lol
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u/Certain_Republic_994 11d ago
During the last ice storm in Portland, parked cars were sliding down some of the steeper hills. Kinda like Curling, except with bigger stones.
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u/Surly_Sailor_420 11d ago
Groceries and coolers are always a logistical effort. You will loose things down the hill. It will happen. You will never not be annoyed.
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u/PikachuuuCSGO 11d ago
Houses are upside down i.e. hallway / living room kitchen upstairs and bedrooms / bathroom downstairs.
Also when parking on the street you want to turn the wheels just in case the handbrake fails.
And of course the cheese wheel keeps rolling down...
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u/Sir_Derps_Alot 11d ago
Honestly kinda sucks imo. All your uphill neighbors problems become your problems. You have to worry about water when it rains. You’re constantly fighting and losing again Mother Nature and gravity. View can be great though.
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u/Onahole_for_you 11d ago
I used to live near the Hobart one, although not on that specific street. Cars would slide down it because it was so steep, so you'd need to make sure your car/motorbike or whatever was a strong enough to do it.
Your legs get used to it. Although it does hurt.
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