4 MIN READ
October 17, 2026
I don’t think I have ever read a full article from The New Yorker, except this one The American Religion of Self Storage Facilities. My father-in-law got my wife a subscription a couple of years ago, and I tried to read it, but I found the articles too long or too nuanced. The author, David Owen, covers many interesting aspects of our business, from side stories about users and owners of self-storage facilities to the economy of our business.
Our industry has traditionally functioned on the four D’s: death, displacement, divorce, and downsizing. These have long been traditional reasons to use self storage.
The author makes a strong case that we should add another D: Delusion, based on baby boomers believing their children will want all the things they currently own and personally value. The antique trunk, the generational fine dinner china, two decades of National Geographic magazines dating from the 70s, and the samovar that my dad picked up in Turkey in the 1960’s (these are all real-life examples of stuff I know my parents are holding onto with the expectation that one of their children will want).
There is an aspect to sentimental items where it’s easier to just put it in storage rather than deal with it during emotional times like when someone passes away, gets divorced, or moves into senior living. Storage is and will always be the easy emotional default.
What this article completely ignores is what’s happening with younger generations who just don’t have enough room for their own stuff, much less their parents’ junk. Boomers only account for 10% of storage users today. Millennials make up 36% of the users, and Gen Z makes up 31%.
Millennials and Gen Z aren’t renting storage because their baby-boomer parents already unloaded all their keepsakes on them. They are renting because they cannot afford the size of living space they need where they want to live. For many, the location is the priority over the size of space. They are renting space for their skis in the summer and camping gear in the winter. They are holding Christmas decorations because their garage is too full of clothes one kid has outgrown while they wait till the other kids become of age.
If the fifth D driving self storage for Boomers is Delusion, the sixth D driving self storage for Millennials and Gen Z is Delay.
Delay till they can buy a first house or rent a bigger apartment. Delay till they can get married or move to the city they really want to live.