Where is the self-storage industry now?

The self-storage industry has grown in areas that City Council zoned for industrial development in a vain effort to attract job-rich businesses, including in former manufacturing hubs near burgeoning residential populations like Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia or North American Street in Kensington.

Where are blank-walled storage centers opening?

Even so, blank-walled storage centers are opening on commercial corridors across the city. Now developers are eyeing land in neighborhoods like University City, parts of South Philly, and the Northwest because storage facilities mostly serve consumers in their immediate surroundings. Those areas tend to have less accommodating land-use regulations.

Does Philly still have self-storage?

While other cities have moved to restrict self-storage, Philly has seen at least two dozen open just since 2020. Consumer purchases boomed during the pandemic, even as home offices ate into available space.

Are self-storage facilities causing a backlash in urban areas?

Nationally, the growth of the self-storage business engendered backlash in some urban areas. Denver banned the facilities within a quarter mile of light rail lines in 2019, in a bid to encourage residential development near transit, while Miami regulated how close they can be built to one another.

Why did New York City ban self-storage in 2023?

New York City shut them out of areas zoned for industrial-usage in an effort to preserve space for job-creating businesses, while Providence, Rhode Island, banned any new self-storage in 2023. Organizers in the Rhode Island city saw storage facilities as cannibalizing scarce land that could be better used for housing.

Are self-storage facilities a problem in South Kensington?

But neighborhood groups like South Kensington Community Partners are still concerned that self-storage facilities and their often featureless ground floors make neighborhoods feel unsafe, employ few workers, and generate little foot traffic.