Friday, April 14, 2017

Too much self-storage?

From the NY Times:

For many New Yorkers, a storage unit or two (or three) is the only solution to living small. It is the spare closet or extra room that they don’t have, or can’t otherwise afford in a crowded city with ever shrinking and more expensive living quarters, including so-called micro-apartments that are barely larger than storage units themselves. It is a temporary holding place for those in between jobs, moves, marriages and divorces, and an extension of the workplace for small businesses.

But as self-storage buildings have multiplied across the city, they are drawing increased scrutiny from city officials and community groups who say they take up space that could be used for something more productive. Now the city is proposing to restrict the development of new self-storage buildings in some industrial areas in the boroughs outside Manhattan, as part of a broader strategy to save more land for manufacturing and industry.

New York joins a small but growing number of communities, including San Francisco, Miami and Charleston, S.C., that have moved to restrict or curb the spread of self-storage buildings, seeking to strike a balance between the demands for more storage with the needs of communities for other things such as jobs, housing and grocery stores.

12 comments:

(sarc) said...

People have "stuff", and now the government wants to regulate the storage there of as well.

I ask what the true intentions of these brilliant government officials?

It is my belief that once an unused factory is converted into a storage facility, due to agreements, contracts, and leases, it can no longer be easily converted into a homeless shelter or the new concept of a localized jail...

Anonymous said...

I often wonder what, besides personal items , is really being stored in these structures. Drugs? Weapons? Chemicals? Who oversees these "storage sheds"?

Anonymous said...

Tell the idiot liberals to stop moving here then we would have more space in this damn city! Also, deportations would help too! We have no room for any more buildings or people! Tell these idiot liberals to go back to their OWN STATES and Start finding jobs in their OWN STATES and keep their trash at mom and dads house in the same house that I'm sure these snotnose liberals grew up in with 2 acres of land and about 3 brand new cars in their driveways! Then the idiots come here and pretend they are from "New York" when they damn sure know that they only RESIDE HERE.We should really build things and renovate things that REALLY MATTER like schools and highways and perhaps a couple of DMV expresses would be such a bad idea either.

Anonymous said...

"I often wonder what, besides personal items , is really being stored in these structures. Drugs? Weapons? Chemicals? Who oversees these "storage sheds"?

they all are full of JUNK!
that's it
go watch storage wars or horders
one mans trash is another man treasure
after several months of non payment, the junk is claimed for non payment
then you see what has any value on ebay

Anonymous said...

These, like homeless hotels, are going up everywhere in eastern queens. Given the choice, a nice quiet storage building is my preference.

Anonymous said...

These storage operations are essentially "tax payers" for landlords - a way to cover basic costs with little expenditure (on New Buildings or Alteration... or any environmental remediation). Interestingly, many are located in flood plains!

Anonymous said...

I often wonder what, besides personal items , is really being stored in these structures. Drugs? Weapons? Chemicals? Who oversees these "storage sheds"?
------
I think that is the real reason here - no one knows what are in these places. Look at the large facility in Vallonia next to Con Ed on 20th Ave and 35 St. Just think of what would happen if something nasty was stored there.

They should shut these places down and stop building what amounts to tomorrow's SLOs so apartments can have enough space for people and their belongings.

Anonymous said...

#3 right sentiment 100% but the name calling and put downs on both sides is what's choking us.

Anonymous said...

>I often wonder what, besides personal items , is really being stored in these structures. Drugs? Weapons? Chemicals?

It's none of your business.

Julie B. said...

I know people use it just for off season clothing and decor. It's not that cheap and a pain in the ass to get there and out. The ones big enough to store rooms of furniture are outrageously expensive, you really can't do it long term. Imagine if we were minimalists and pared down. we just have too much stuff.

Anonymous said...

I leave in Laurelton Queens and a new storage place is being built.

Anonymous said...

Big ugly box buildings that do not produce jobs nor housing.