7 Instances When Self Storage Saves the Day in PHX

Also known as the Valley of the Sun, Phoenix is an oasis of year-round sunshine, various resorts and golf courses. As a vibrant city with a bustling economy, it’s no wonder people want to move here. While getting settled into their new homes, new arrivals also benefit from the city’s various services, including self storage. In fact, Phoenix offers plenty of storage options as the industry has seen the addition of over 8.7M square feet of self storage, the 5th largest volume of construction in the past decade.

Self storage comes in handy not only when moving to Phoenix, but also to help you better organize your home and keep it uncluttered as extra furniture, appliances and seasonal items can be kept in storage. Moreover, apart from the general uses, Phoenix lifestyles can generate additional needs for storage. Here’s when and how Phoenix residents can benefit from self storage, depending on the different types of activities, hobbies and business operations they’re engaged in.

1. Hiking and More

With a lot of opportunities to explore the great outdoors, the Valley of the Sun is a hotspot for hiking. In fact, Phoenix made National Geographic’s list of best cities for hiking in 2011. If you’re not sure where to start, the Camelback Mountain Echo Canyon Recreation Area is a local landmark for getting out and about. The Echo Canyon Trail and the Cholla Trail are the two main trails, with the former being more challenging. Either way, the Sonoran Desert reserves breathtaking views for both trails.

Camelback Mountain in Phoenix AZ

If you’d like a taste of the outdoor, head out to South Mountain Park, the largest municipal park in the US and also one of the largest urban parks in North America. This spot is a great way to leave the city behind without getting too far away from it. You can find here 51 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking – both for beginners and more experienced outdoor enthusiasts.

For an urban destination, the Tempe Beach Park and Town Lake in downtown Tempe is the place to be. You can take your bike here, find a great spot for a picnic or go paddle-boarding in this amazing city park.

When you’re taking a break from all the outdoors fun, you can put your hiking gear or your bike into storage. A 5×5 storage unit will probably suffice for this type of equipment. Renting a small storage unit in Phoenix starts at $25/month.

2. Golfing

Phoenix is also known as a premier location for golfing, boasting over 200 golf courses that deliver a great variety of golfing styles. You can go golfing practically everywhere within the Phoenix metro area, from the captivating Sonoran Desert to the classic green grass of the resorts to the city-style courses.

There are five 18-hole championship courses and three nine-hole courses within the limits of the City of Phoenix. If you’re a golf enthusiast, you can spend some playing time at the Cave Creek Golf Course or the Papago Golf Course, which happens to be located next to the famous Papago Buttes, a famous trail accessible to everyone located in Papago Park.

A little farther from the city, you can pick the Troon North, Boulders Golf Club and We-Ko-Pa, which feel like remote places as you are surrounded by desert rock formations.

Golfers can drop off their golf clubs and other golfing-related equipment at a storage unit to avoid cluttering their homes or garages if they live in a single-family home.

3. Businesses

Phoenix is a vibrant city that sustains several industries including by real estate, finance and insurance, manufacturing, retail trade and healthcare. Here are some ways in which self storage can assist the day-to-day business operations.

• Construction

As Phoenix encourages a more streamlined and self-regulated permitting process, construction has taken off in the city. Both construction companies and contractors can benefit from self storage. Construction tools and materials can be easily stored at a storage unit close to the construction, thus saving these businesses the higher cost of renting a workshop where everything can be stored.

• Real estate

Since real estate benefits from the thriving construction activity in the city, realtors are another category that can find self storage a boon. When selling a home, staging becomes an essential step in the process. Realtors can keep furniture or décor inside a storage unit to use for home staging. A storage unit is a much more suitable spot for such a purpose than the backseat of their car or even their homes.

• Restaurants

Phoenix might have started out with steakhouses like most western cities, but it’s now famous for its Mexican food. Cuisines from all over the world are also represented on the Phoenix restaurant scene. Additionally, Phoenix is the place where the first McDonald’s franchise was sold was sold back in 1952. Neil Fox is the entrepreneur who opened it in 1953, and it was the first location to use the golden arches it is known by today.

How can restaurants take advantage of self storage? It’s quite simple. Extra seating, kitchen tools and serving utensils can be put into storage when renovating. Additionally, if a joint is booked for a private event, creating less seating might mean you need space to store extra tables and chairs. This is where a storage unit can come in quite handy.

• Retail

Phoenix has a little bit of everything when it comes to its retail business. From malls to boutiques or antique shops, the retail industry in Phoenix is thriving. Behind the scenes, all these brick-and-mortar businesses need space to organize their existing and future merchandise. Turning to self storage is one way to keep excess merchandise or discounted merchandise bought in advance. Seasonal items and even seasonal store decorations can find their place in storage until they’re ready to be used again. For a lot of retailers, a storage unit becomes an extension of their business premises.

4. Car Racing

Phoenix is also a place where car racing is taken to another level. The Phoenix International Raceway is a 2.5-mile road course that plays host to several NASCAR events each season. Additionally, the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park organizes events in the Phoenix metro area. Locals participating in these events also find themselves in need of storage space for their vehicles. Using self storage to store that race car is more than helping to keep your vehicle safe; it also provides the optimal temperature and humidity to prevent climate-related damage.

Additionally, Phoenix residents that possess a second car can also benefit from using car storage, as leaving their car in the outside heat and sunlight can cause damage to the car long-term. Going on vacation or having guests over makes your air-conditioned garage out of reach for your own car, a self storage unit is just what your vehicle needs.

5. Museums

In Phoenix, museums come by the dozen. You can visit the  Phoenix Art Museum, which has the largest collection of visual art, with over 17,000 works of art from all over the world. Other local museums include the Arizona Capitol Museum, the Arizona Military Museum, the Children’s Museum of Phoenix and the Arizona Science Center, among others.

Historic Arizona State Capitol museum in downtown Phoenix, AZ

Such a great number of venues dedicated to art means that a lot of times, exhibitions cannot house the entire collection of items in the possession of each institution. This is where turning to self storage can be a practical choice. Museums benefit from this service as pieces of artwork usually require a climate-controlled environment to be preserved without suffering any damage.

6. Phoenix Residents

Apartment dwellers are some of the most common users of self storage across the board as apartments tend to have less space than single-family homes. Furniture, appliances, bulky clothing and seasonal decorations are among the most common items put into storage to save home space. The need for storage in apartment dwellers in Phoenix becomes apparent as the metro has been particularly prolific in delivering new apartment units, with about 58,000 new apartments added to the local Phoenix inventory in the past decade.

Besides apartment dwellers, single-family households in Phoenix also can see the merit in using self storage. A lot of families turned to multi-generational living which often means a surplus of furniture, appliances and memorabilia under the same roof. Self storage is a practical solution to keeping the home uncluttered all the while keeping belongings safe and sound in a storage unit. A 10×10 storage unit is the most common size people rent, but if you have large items you should consider a 10×15 or even a 10×20 unit.

7. Student Living

Phoenix is home to several institutions of higher learning, with Arizona State University (ASU) being the largest one. ASU has several campuses, including ASU West Campus in northwest Phoenix, ASU Downtown Campus in downtown Phoenix and Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale. University of Arizona College of Medicine and the ten community colleges belonging to the Maricopa County Community College District are also schools that students can attend in Phoenix.

While being enrolled in a higher education institution, Phoenix students can use self storage to save space in their dorms and apartments. Bulky and seasonal clothing can sit in storage without cluttering their living space. A storage unit also comes handy in-between leases or even during the summer break. This way, belongings can be left in town while students go back to their hometown. This service saves them the inconvenience of carrying furniture and appliances back home as well as saving them moving costs.