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I've considered it before, but didn't know it was legal. Would the owners of the facility allow it?
Are the units temperature controlled? Summers get hot, winters get cold.
Surely there is no ventilation in those boxes.
And a Christmas tree in the window? Do storage units even have windows?
I've never seen a storage unit with a window. I don't think I've heard of them having electricity, but I'll admit I haven't looked or wondered before. I once rented a storage unit for retail surplus while I was changing store locations. I certainly wouldn't want to live there. Plus around my neck of the woods, most of the facilities I've seen have living facilities for the manager, who actually lives there. It's usually a facility above or next to the rental office. They would know if someone were living there.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dale Cooper
I've never seen a storage unit with a window. I don't think I've heard of them having electricity, but I'll admit I haven't looked or wondered before. I once rented a storage unit for retail surplus while I was changing store locations. I certainly wouldn't want to live there. Plus around my neck of the woods, most of the facilities I've seen have living facilities for the manager, who actually lives there. It's usually a facility above or next to the rental office. They would know if someone were living there.
We've had a storage unit for many years, and there is no electricity nor windows. The contract clearly prohibits living in it and the office is occupied 7am-7pm so they would certainly notice if someone did try to live in it. Plus, they have a network of video cameras.
Just as we DO have breadlines and souplines (a la the Great Depression), these are now called "food stamps" or EBT cards. It's a way of making everything "look" normal. You don't see people standing in long lines waiting for a meal; they just swipe their cards at the supermarket like the rest of us. PRESTO! Invisible poverty.
There are "invisible" banks runs, too...but you never see long lines outside a bank. It's all done electronically. Most people are unaware that there is any problem with the banking system (there is).
So it is not surprising that someone would use any and all means to acquire a roof over their heads. In any other time, they'd be thrown out on their ear. But now often they just look away and say nothing. Better than having REAL Hoovervilles out in the open, where the poverty is much more visible. Our post WW2 prosperity gave birth to so many innovations that were unknown during the last Depression, and storage units are one of them. It remains, however, absolutely illegal to live in one.
With most rents running north of $750 for a tiny room or efficiency, I have known folks who rented a $300 commercial space with heat, power outlet, and half-bath, on the pretext of "running a business", when they absolutely do not. But it makes a better abode than a storage unit! And plenty of parking!
Some people have been living in storage units that cost about $100 per month. It's legal, and there's even a power outlet in the units, but there's no running water or toilet.
The news item I saw was in San Jose, CA, but I found articles about people doing this throughout the country. It's a bit nicer than living in a vehicle.
??? Where can I find one of those? I have a storage unit but the rental agreement specifically prohibits living in it and there are no power outlets available anywhere.
although this thread was started with the pejorative subject line "poor people live in storage units!", in a more positive light, there is another C-D thread on not far off "container homes" done in more style in southern california beach towns:
but the diff here, is one scenario is people illegally living in a storage space never designed for human living quarters, and the other is just a "cheap metal shell" that is retrofitted with tens of thousands of dollars of plumbing, electricity and wallboard facade inner walls.
I dont know what to do with the poor, but where and how shall we house them?
"Poor People" Man most of these "poor people" arent even really poor they're just cheap bastards.
I've heard stories of people who make the avg $1200 monthly from a low-skilled job living in storage units or living with relatives JUST so they don't have to pay for rent, light, food, cable etc...
I don't feel bad for poor people at all, somewhere along the road they chose a path that they KNEW will end up in poverty/living pay cheque to pay cheque. If you don't wanna be poor, then don't be lazy.
People will usually move to a warm climate (hitch hike) and spend the rest of their lives living in tents. Everyone knows about these people. The cops on occasion will move in to kick them off the land if an owner wants them gone, but they just pack up and find a new location, usually near a water source (river, lake, etc.).
There are of course the people you refer to, however, it is illegal, I'm not sure what the penalty would be? Probably kick them out.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,289 posts, read 80,538,426 times
Reputation: 57240
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ7
People will usually move to a warm climate (hitch hike) and spend the rest of their lives living in tents. Everyone knows about these people. The cops on occasion will move in to kick them off the land if an owner wants them gone, but they just pack up and find a new location, usually near a water source (river, lake, etc.).
There are of course the people you refer to, however, it is illegal, I'm not sure what the penalty would be? Probably kick them out.
During a recent TV interview with a homeless panhandler in Seattle, he revealed that he was making $200/day from handouts, tax free. Not all of the panhandlers are actually homeless or hungry despite what's on the cardboard signs.
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