I probably don’t need to tell you that San Jose is a very popular place to live, but you might be surprised to learn it’s the largest city in the Bay Area by population. While it started out as a small farming community, it overtook San Francisco as the place to live in the Bay Area in the 1990s and is often called the Capital of Silicon Valley.

The more popular a place becomes, of course, the more people—and less space—there is. In response, people devise creative solutions for creating extra room—like converting a garage into a guest bedroom, TV room, or home office. But what happens when all you really want is an actual garage?

Los Altos got its start with farms and apricot orchards, and while the community’s changed a lot since then, plenty of people still like working in the dirt. When I’m in the area, I’m always blown away by the number of lush gardens. One of my clients tells me that the Garden Club of Los Altos is one of the oldest in the state (nearly 90). Not only does the club share ideas for tending their own gardens, they help beautify the city—and they do a pretty fine job of it.