Where did all the self storage units come from?

Does anybody else remember when self storage units were not all over the countryside? How did people ever come to the decision that they were a good idea?

That's not to say they can't serve a purpose, but the need is not as great as the number of rental units out there would have us believe.

What do people store in those units anyway? It's not stuff they use all the time, or it wouldn't be in those units. It's not critical to their lives. Yet, it's somehow worth spending money every month to keep it. Can it be people just can't let stuff go? I'll bet the vast majority of stuff in storage units could be sold, given away, or junked and no one would miss it.

There are valid uses. I guy I used to work with sold his house but couldn't move into the new one for about a couple months. During that time, it made sense to store his things. It was for a short time and he would have had to replace everything once he moved anyway. It was cheaper to rent the unit for a short while than replace his things. The whole time his things were in storage, he moaned and complained about he cost.

Then there are less than valid uses. Like the lady I know who left her boyfriend. Some of her big pieces of furniture didn't fit in her new apartment, so she rented a storage unit. She couldn't really afford the new apartment, never mind the storage unit. She ended up moving back in with her old boyfriend. I suspect it was mainly so she'd have a place to put all her stuff. Apparently it's more important to have a place for that really tall hutch than the fact her cheating boyfriend was dealing hard drugs.

Then there are people who store things like avocado colored refrigerators from the 70s. What the heck are they thinking?

-Sixbears