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Off-Site Storage
AKA: The Phantom Lurker
I’ve been stumbling around with my thoughts today, and someone who responded to my post “Storage Clutter” got me thinking more about the storage that we don’t see. That lurking monster that’s usually located off-site in a pole barn or warehouse building not so near you. (Note: I live in the United States, so this may or may not be applicable to anyone else on the planet, and all sources are from Mar/April of 2019.)
The United States has approximately 1.7 billion square feet of land dedicated to the self-storage business sector. This, of course, does not include accessory dwelling units on individuals’ properties, garages, or attic or basement storage. That square footage represents between 48,000 and 52,000 FACILITIES that are only used for the storage of stuff that people aren’t currently using. And surprisingly, only about 9.4% of people in the U.S. are utilizing self storage.
The average cost of an individual unit is a whopping $88.85 per month. So, over the course of a year, the price of storing stuff we don’t use is a painful $1066.20. To put this into perspective, the…
