This above all, to thine self-storage be true

One of the better aspects of living in a (relatively) small space, is that you can't accumulate a ton of stuff. I say relatively small space, because at 1,240 square feet, my condo is larger than many homes. Especially when compared to Europe, where - as anyone who watches House Hunters International can tell you - apartments tend toward the miniscule. (My favorite shows are those in which families are relocating from Atlanta or Dallas to Paris or Amsterdam, and they want to experience city living and European charm, but go into cardiac arrest when they see the size of kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms. No walk in SubZero fridge for you, dearie! No en suite! Kids will have to share!)

While my (relatively) small space doesn't allow me to acquire lots o'stuff, I still have plenty. Of course, at my age, I'm no longer in acquisition mode, and I make runs to Goodwill a couple of times a year to drop off things that are still useful and in good shape, but which I no longer use. And whenever I see my nieces, I invite them to browse for anything they might want or need. 

Anyway, my closets - which are by no means walk-in generous - are sufficient for my storage needs, which are primarily suitcases, Christmas decorations, paper towels and TP.

When I have had large items - i.e., furniture - that needs to go because it's been replaced by something better (typically something from my sister Kath, who's recently downsized), I find someone who wants it. During covid, I bought a new dining room table and chairs, mostly because I hated looking at my set and because the chair struts were so weak from lack of polishing that they snapped when barely touched. Fortunately, my friend Joe has a niece who'd just bought a 1920's vintage home, was looking for 1920's vintage furniture, and is a furniture refinisher. 

Anyway, I have absolutely no need to rent storage to keep excess anything in. When I make a move in the next couple of years, I will likely be in smaller quarters. Anything that doesn't fit will be given away or GOT-JUNKed. 

But plenty of folks I know have rented storage space at one point or another. And as it turns out, it's a real American thing, as I read in a recent New Yorker article by David Owen. Not that I was surprised, exactly, but it was just one more reason to be at least a tiny bit taken aback at the reminder that we are a nation of consumers.  

The United States is the world leader, with roughly ninety per cent of global capacity. Texas, of the fifty states, has the most facilities, Hawaii the fewest. Among cities, New York ranks third, after Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, although on a per-capita basis many smaller municipalities are comparably served. Reno, Nevada, is home to a number of operations that pick up, store, and redeliver tents, chairs, bicycles, and other gear for repeat Burning Man attendees, and Wichita, Kansas, was once named the Self-Storage Capital of the U.S. Units range from closet-size to cavernous, including spaces that are large enough to hold entire houses...According to the co-founder and C.E.O. of Neighbor, an industry marketplace that works like Airbnb, there are more self-storage facilities in the U.S. than there are Starbucks, McDonald’s, Walmart, Home Depot, Domino’s, Dunkin’, and Costco locations combined. Annual revenues are estimated to be more than forty billion dollars. (Source: New Yorker)

Okay, who didn't laugh - or at least smile - when they read about Burning Man storage? Thought so. 

But more self-storage facilties than all the rest of those businesses combined? Well, that sure strains my personal credulity. Maybe because I live in New England, I can't imagine anything outnumbering Dunkins. Let alone Dunkins, plus Starbucks, plus Mickey D's...

And that doesn't even count the garages used for storage:

...A 2022 survey by the Craftsman tool division of Stanley Black & Decker found that more than a third of the country’s residential garages were so full of overflow possessions that their owners were unable to park cars in them.

People store stuff for a lot of different reasons, but the industry recognizes four drivers of the personal storage apocalypse: death, displacement, divorce, and downsizing. To which Owen nominated a fifth: 

...the delusion that your children will want the items you’re planning to bequeath to them, especially the kind of furniture that used to be called antiques but that young people for some time have referred to derisively as “brown.”

Guess I was most fortunate to have Joe's niece take my mahogany table and chairs.  

I would add a sixth reason: city dwellers in small places that really don't have room for their Christmas ornaments, the golf clubs, the beach chairs, the skis. And who just can't resist the urge to acquire more stuff, given how easy-peasy it is to order from Amazon and eBay. 

Self-storage isn't cheap, but, because it's out of sight, out of mind, it's simple enough to ignore it. Even if you've slapped a credit card down to handle the recurring charge that's showing up on your bill every month. And then there are the many folks who just can't pay and just lose their stuff. (I can't tell you how many homeless folks have mentioned their storage, and how difficult it is to keep payments up. It's heartbreaking to hear their stories, because what's in storage is all that they have to their name. It's not their spillover.) Owen's article mentioned that some people throw their stuff in storage and stop paying immediately, as it's cheaper to get rid of things that way than it is to call GOT-JUNK.

Ah, America, land of endless and mindless consumption possibilities. And plenty of places to store it all. Forget E Pluribus Unum. Maybe our true motto is This above all, to thine self-storage be true.

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Image Source: GoStoreIt