The life of a military family can be hectic, as deployment schedules and reassignments can cause soldiers and their families to move all over. This trend has resulted in an uptick of military families renting at self storage facilities near Fort Drum, New York, reports The Watertown Daily Times.
Many soldiers have been assigned to the fort ahead of their deployment overseas, and finding housing in the region is becoming tricky. Owners of affordable self storage units in the area say that they've seen a rise in the number of military families using their services.
"The people who are now arriving are picking up their wives and families to get housing," Walter VanTassel, who owns one such facility, told the publication. "They usually rent rooms for 30 to 90 days before they can find living quarters."
VanTassel said that since housing is sparse in the area, many are choosing to move into small apartments once they do find housing. This makes storage units incredibly valuable, as it gives them extra space to temporarily store their belongings. Since many will only be in the area for a short amount of time, it makes more economic sense to rent something smaller and use secure storage for extra space than spend money on a big house.
