Storage of living

[dianora]

Judging by all the new builds I see lately we will have more space for our useless junk we store than for people to actually live in. Apart from the new large building going up at the old Canadian tire at Clyde and Baseline I noted a new large building up at Lincoln fields which has actually been up for a while.
So we pay good money to store stuff we likely will never use but meanwhile we have a homeless problem and housing shortage.

Comments

[blogcutter]

You raise an interesting point. Yes, it's certainly true that most of us have too much stuff.. But at the same time, I think you're overlooking some of the real social and ecological benefits these facilities may provide.

Why do people turn to storage facilities like these in the first place? I can think of several likely scenarios:

1. Someone (or a family) may be going somewhere on a temporary posting. This is often true of academics on sabbaticals, diplomats, students (going to out-of-town summer jobs or doing a practicum for several months or even a year or two, or studying abroad, people who work in emergency response situations... Anyway, I'm talking about people who eventually plan to come back. Meanwhile, they may very well be making temporary housing available to someone else! This would be less feasible if the place were full of the departingt person's stuff!! Of course, they could just shove all their stuff in a ldumpster to be hauled away to the landfill and buy more stuff once they get back. Would that make sense? I don't think so!

2. Someone may need a long hospital stay or a stay in rehab, or a convalescence place to recover from some lengthy illness or injury.

3. Someone may have bought a new home but it's not ready for occupancy yet (despite multiple promises from the builder or whoever). They've spent their money on that long-promised new home and have had to move in temporarily with friends or family. At least they can be polite to their temporary hosts and not expect them to accommodate all their junk too!

4. Someone may indeed want or need to downsize. But there again, isn't it often better to have a temporary holding space while you make considered decisions as to who might appreciate your discards? And isn't it better than throwing it all in the garbage?

Frankly, I think I've only scratched the surface of all the possibilities! I think we ought not to jump to conclusions here!!!

[dianora]

Yes there are quite valid reasons for temporary storage. Perhaps it is the building of massive looking storage facilities inside the city instead of "just beyond the fringe" that is usually where temporary storage is found that is jarring.

[blogcutter]

I don't get that argument at all! Would you prefer to have "massive" storage facilities on prime farmland instead?? Besides, many of the people availing themselves of the storage would not necessarily have their own wheels or ready access to someone to schlepp them out there every time they want to sort through their belongings. And just think of the environmental impact of all those big rigs spouting big fumes as they motor past and back into the fringe! No, I think it makes sense for them to have ready access to their stuff so they can sort through it a bit at a time. And by the way, I question whether the storage units are really that massive. You can store a fair amount of goods in a fairly limited space, especially if they can be dismantled when not in use.