Umm. About the driveway...

[Tundra_Man]

You'd have to either employ your neighbors or else build a wench to get that big cast iron table saw back up the slope.

The closest thing I've seen to building a wench is in the movie Weird Science...

[Copper]

They're not going to be mounting a basketball hoop over the garage door at those houses! Can you imagine?

[LinuxRandal]

What is worse, is I have seen driveways like that (in Missouri) but in reverse. Imagine trying to stop you car in ice, going down your driveway (thanks to things like road raisings, and flood plain redistributing).

Never saw what happened, because in a few cases, they couldn't keep water out after that, and now the houses are gone.

[TheRic]

From the pictures I would say that the floor of the basement, if there is a basement, would be several feet above street level. You could even have two levels underground and not be to far below street level. One level to park in, one level for your wood working shop, and the "1st" floor to live in.

[bigsteel15]

From the pictures I would say that the floor of the basement, if there is a basement, would be several feet above street level. You could even have two levels underground and not be to far below street level. One level to park in, one level for your wood working shop, and the "1st" floor to live in.

Now you're talking...Dedicated floor for the workshop at street level.
There are houses in White Rock, BC that have the garage at street level with 3 storeys above that. Most have living space in the cliff behind the garage.