America's relationship with its stuff has spawned a booming $60 billion industry—and a growing backlash. More than 12% of US households now rent self-storage, a record high, even as cities from Maine to California move to block or push the facilities out of sight, arguing they eat up land better used for housing, jobs, or active street life, reports the Wall Street Journal. Since 2019, parts of at least 15 states have imposed bans or tight limits; Providence, Rhode Island, simply added self-storage units to the same prohibited-use list that includes prisons and slaughterhouses, with a council member arguing people are buying and holding on to "stuff they don't really need."
The US industry includes more than 2 billion square feet of self-storage space, according to Sparefoot—and is still expanding, with another 164 million square feet in the pipeline, per the Journal. Facing increased scrutiny, the industry is trying to clean up its image, touting upgraded architecture, mixed-use sites with laundromats and restaurants, and start-ups like Stuf that tuck small, automated storage hubs into existing buildings. But convenience still drives location decisions, often in residential areas, with automation unhelpful for job creation. Demand—largely powered by downsizing, decluttering, divorce, and death—has also slipped since the pandemic, with the average national occupancy at 77% at the end of last year, per Sparefoot.
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