Summary

The United States has a significant demand for storage space, with many Americans opting to use garages and rented storage units to store belongings, often at the expense of parking their vehicles indoors.

Abstract

Americans are facing a storage crisis, with a high demand for self-storage facilities, which has led to an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 storage units across the country. Despite the cost of renting a 10'X10' storage space ranging from $100 to$ 500, nearly 10% of Americans choose to rent these spaces, while others utilize their home garages for storage. A 2022 survey by Stanley Black & Decker's Craftsman brand revealed that 60% of homeowners consider their garages to be the most cluttered area of their homes, with 36% unable to park their vehicles inside due to clutter. This trend reflects a preference for protecting possessions, often of lesser value, over vehicles worth tens of thousands of dollars, which are left exposed to the elements. The personal narrative of the author underscores this phenomenon, from raising a family with a two-car garage used for storage to later downsizing to a condo with outdoor car parking and an additional rented indoor storage space.

Opinions

The author expresses amazement at the prioritization of storing inexpensive items in garages over protecting valuable vehicles.
The author reflects on the irony of the situation, highlighting that despite changes in living arrangements, the pattern of using garages and storage spaces for belongings rather than vehicles persists.
There is a subtle critique of consumerism and the accumulation of possessions, as the author notes the tendency to have multiples of items that are not needed.
The author seems to acknowledge their own role in this cultural norm, having lived through the transition from a family home with a cluttered garage to a condo lifestyle with rented storage space.

Do You Know Where Your Car Is?

If you’re like many people, you know where it isn’t.

Americans are in bad need of storage space. The United States is by far the largest market for self-storage facilities in the world with an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 units spread throughout the country.

A 10'X10' space can set you back $100 to $500 depending on what area and the degree of climate control in the storage facility.

Nearly 10% of all Americans rent a storage space away from their place of dwelling

Much of the rest of the population uses a storage space attached to their house.

The Garage

According to the Stanley Black &Decker tool company’s Craftsman survey taken in November of 2022: there’s mounds of junk in the over 82,000,000 garages in the country. So much that 60% of the homeowners claim their garages are the most cluttered part of their homes.

The survey also discovered that a full 36% of garage owners said their garages were so cluttered they couldn’t fit in the family’s vehicle(s).

It always amazes me that folks leave vehicles worth $30,000 and more out to be abused by the elements in favor of storing $200 to $500 of junk in the space meant for their cars and trucks.

Pleading Guilty

Having a house with four bedroom, two and a half baths and a two car garage was perfect when raising a family. Like many American families the garage became a storage unit. The car and the truck we all drove were left in the driveway to bask in the sun along with braving the rain, snow, heat and cold. A freezer unit along with goodness knows what maintained the car and truck’s rightful space in the garage.

We seemed to have 2 of what we didn’t need 1 of.

The kids moved on, my wife moved out and I was living in the house along with two cats and a dog. The kids all came back to visit and to live at various times. Housing vehicles in the garage became a distant thought.

Condo Living

Many years later, I’m in a nice two bedroom condo with GF Judy and Bijou the cat.

We have two cars parked in an outdoor lot provided by the building’s condo association.

We rent an extra indoor storage space.

Two to five hundred dollars worth of junk inside housed in a protected storage space; $30,000 worth of cars outside to brave the elements.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.