With apartment rents in Boston climbing over the past couple years – especially in the city’s hottest neighborhoods – it’s becoming more difficult to live in some areas.

Cue Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s plan to promote the construction of micro-apartments, tiny dorm room-like units that are relatively inexpensive. The plan, which has been catching on in cities across North America, is a good way to ensure that more of a variety of residents can live in neighborhoods they would otherwise avoid because the rents are just too high. According to Rental Beast, a brokerage that tracks market trends, average rents in 2012 across the city were up almost 10 percent from the previous year. Average rents for a one-bedroom apartment in Boston hover around $1,900, according to Rental Beast; micro-apartment rents are around $1,500 a month.

Developers are planning to build hundreds of these apartments in Boston – from the South End to the Seaport District. And these are the neighborhoods that need more affordable alternatives. In fact, in one planned development next to Boston Medical Center, 75 percent of the 245 units will be rented by individuals making no more than $39,660 a year, or a couple earning $45,360 total in annual salary. And 25 percent will be for individuals with maximum salaries of $46,250, or a couple making $52,850 or less.

The apartments aren’t big at 300 to 500 square feet, but they give people just enough space to sleep and cook and relax. It’s not enough room for a small family, but enough space for a single person or a couple to live in a neighborhood close to where they work, or  in which they’ve always wanted to reside – or both.