My wife and I recently moved from Victoria to Langley where I encountered, for the first time, the modern, suburbian garage.  To understand the evolution of the garage, we must first understand where it has come from.  Basically, a suburban garage’s purpose was to either to park a vehicle to keep it protected from the elements, or to park a bunch of junk to keep it protected from an over-enthusiastic, garbage-throwing-away spouse.  With the advent of modern suburbia, this role has changed.

The difference between classic suburbia and modern suburbia is such an important factor here, that I must highlight the differences before going on.  Classic suburbia can be thought of as a large area divided into parcels of land called yards, on which houses (and the odd park) were built.  Modern suburbia, however, can be thought of as half the “large area” divided into houses that have a thin border of a yard in name only.  If you were to stand between two houses in modern suburbia and stretch out your arms, there’s a good chance you would be able to reach the exterior walls of both houses.

The concept of cramming as much house as possible onto a yard has not, however, increased the number of rooms in any given house, or, rather, it hasn’t increased the number of usable rooms.  Now you have things like a “great” room that is really just a living room, but used less so it looks nicer.  The same thing applies to the “formal dining area.”  You also have the basement suite, which would be usable if anyone could afford the house they just bought, but they can’t so it gets rented out.

In fact, apart from the common oversight of the chapel, there are several rooms completely *missing* from a modern suburbian home:

  • The unfinished basement.

    No one seems to have an unfinished basement anymore where they can set up the kid’s toys to keep them busy until dinner.

  • The workshop.

    While not really a missing room of the house itself, classic suburban homes have always had enough yard to accommodate this should the occupants desire it.  Now, however, there are little plastic buildings, slightly larger then a dog house, that accommodate the mower, weed-whacker, and sprinkler.

  • The entryway.

    This former room has been completely assimilated by the rest of the house and now just opens up into whatever area of the house the front door happens to be attached to.

  • A games room.

    Okay, this may not be missing, per say, but I am very surprised that houses this large do not accommodate this.

These missing rooms, combined with the absence of a real yard, are the main contributing factors to the evolution of the modern, suburbian garage.

Think about it.  What is a garage on a home like this if not just a smaller unfinished basement that happens to be on ground level and has a really big door and poor lighting?  But really, it’s so much more.

No one in modern suburbia uses their garage to park their car, that’s what the driveway is for.  (Well, there are a few.)  No one even uses their garage to store their junk.  (Again, a few exceptions do exist.)  No one uses their garage for what it was intended for.  So, what do they use it for?

  1. Workshop.

    Many people use their suburbian garage as a workshop.  This can be a workshop where you build things (due to the lack of an actual workshop), or a workshop where you work on your special vehicle/project (due to the lack of space available in the driveway ‘cause that’s where the car goes…not to mention the lack of parking that’s a result from the proximity of all the houses).

  2. Lounge for the grownups.

    With the garage door open parents are able to keep track of their kids more easily who are playing on the streets and sidewalks due to the lack of a real yard.  This has resulted in the advent of the modern suburbian lounge garage.

  3. Storage of non-junk items.

    Due to keeping the garage door open all the time, and the proximity of all the houses, everyone can see into everyone else’s modern suburbian garage.  As a result, what is stored in the garage is usually nothing near junk…that’s in your walk in closet or spare bedroom closet.

  4. Entryway.

    Yes, in some cases the garage has evolved into the main (not the “great”) entryway.  This is due to keeping the garage door open all the time, and some (though, not many) places to put things when you walk in through that area.

  5. Games room.

    As a result of not having an unfinished basement for the kids, the kids get actual living room.  (We wouldn’t want them playing in the great room and a garage is no place for a kid to play.)  With the kid’s toys in the living room, where do the grownups go to play?  Heh…the modern suburbian garage, of course.

If you think any of this isn’t true, feel free to stop by our place for a visit.  Preferably between 5 and 8 PM so that more people will be home at the same time.