The American Religion of Self-Storage Facilities

Self-storage facilities have become a commonplace aspect of modern American life, with more people seeking lockable space to store their excess belongings than they can comfortably keep at home. The industry's origins can be traced back to the 1970s, with many early operations being small, independently owned businesses. Today, the United States leads the world in self-storage capacity, with nearly ninety percent of the global market, and Texas is the state with the most facilities.

New York City ranks third in terms of total facilities, behind Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, though smaller municipalities often enjoy comparable levels of service.

Ranging from compact units to spacious spaces large enough to accommodate an entire house, self-storage units cater to a diverse array of needs. The majority of facilities are single-story structures with closely spaced roll-up metal doors, resembling office buildings. In fact, there are more self-storage facilities in the U.S. than major retail chains such as Starbucks, McDonald's, Walmart, Home Depot, Domino's, Dunkin', and Costco combined.

Life events such as death, displacement, divorce, and downsizing often drive demand for self-storage services, as individuals struggle to reconcile their accumulating possessions with limited living space. Paul Roossin, an A.I. technologist and former neuroscientist, found himself needing storage space when he moved from a suburban house to an apartment in Manhattan to potentially return to the suburbs someday, keeping items like a synthesizer, piano, and Hammond organ in a Queens facility accessible by subway.

However, the reality of storage units can lead to a sense of forgetting about stored items, as in Roossin's case when he eventually donated a synthesizer, piano, and Hammond organ. Downsizing is another common reason for using self-storage, as demonstrated by the author's experience of renting a portable storage unit from Pods to store redundant household items for a daughter who would eventually move in.

Self-storage facilities often resemble fulfillment centers of major retail corporations, with their large, low, rectangular, flat-roofed, windowless structures. Their design and construction might make them ideal for receiving deliveries directly from shipping centers, bypassing the clutter of one's home.