It's really hard to visualize a hill from flat images. If you spend a lot of time obsessing about it elevation change or grade can help. To really get to know a hill you need to ride it.

That said, most of my daily commute is fairly flat. There are a few rolling hills, but nothing you couldn't comfortably ride on a fixed gear bike. Nothing, that is, except the hill that goes up to my house. The road loops around and I have the option of 1/4 mile at 12-20% grade or 1/2 mile at 8-14% grade. The longer way starts at a lower point and so has a bit more elevation gain. Either way wears me out.

You can kind of get a feel for it by looking at how the houses sit next to each other in this Google Maps street view (of the 'gentler' side of the hill): http://goo.gl/maps/MPTvz