I live in a sixplex. It was a SFH that was converted into 3 apartments with an additional 3 apartments built on the back. The total area including parking for all units is less land than the larger SFH lots. To be fair the sixplex doesn’t have much of a front or back yard, but still there are up to 6 small families living on less land than the 1 family in the McMansion.
The units are decently built, they are way closer to real apartments than a converted rented basement is. The locataion is near downtown and several tenants are able to live car free, which even when accounting for bus fare and taxis is saving them money compared to car ownership.
The unit doesn’t stick out that much although the neighbourhood its in does have a few other similarly sized units. For the most part, it blends into the neighbourhood as if it was just a regular house. We need more units like this desperately across all of Canada.
I agree, I lived in a quadplex before, it took up one normal sized residential lot. Great use of space citywise, but also design wise inside it was well thought out. 2 units faced the main street, 2 units faced the backyard garage/alley. From the outside it just looks like one home with 2 front doors, either side. Owners have to agree on roof repair and things like siding replacement, but other than that it was separate living.