It may be true that you can score a great education up north, but if you want warm weather, comfort food and that famous southern hospitality, you might want to consider Atlanta. Fortunately, there are 57 colleges and universities throughout its urban center and surrounding suburbs and an impressive 679 storage facilities in the area. You can check out all 135 facilities in our network, and while you’re at it, keep in mind that whether you’re a local or a transplant, the city’s wealth of corporations (AT&T, Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola to name a few) will likely impact your internship or post-college employment plans. Fortunately, the flexibility of storage facility leases typically allows you to rent short term, rent long term, switch unit sizes and even transfer to a unit in a different neighborhood (provided you’re sticking with the same company). During your university years in Atlanta, you’re bound to learn a thing or two. Let’s start with a lesson in student storage.
Storing Near Downtown
If you’re attending a school like
Emory University or
Georgia State University, you’ll be attending class and probably living near downtown Atlanta. These two schools have a combined enrollment of more than 40,000 students, many of whom will be looking for storage that they can access easily. Because rent on storage units tends to go up the further inside of a city you are (location, location, location), you should be prepared to spend a little more for the privilege of convenience. However, that being said, storage unit prices tend to reflect the cost of living in the area as well as their ability. The cost of living in Atlanta is pretty reasonable (though thanks to gentrification, it’s on the rise) and the number of storage facilities is large. This works in your favor. If you rent at a place like
Uncle Bob's Self Storage on 14th Street, you can expect to pay the reasonable rate of $79.00 a month for a 5x5 unit. For the same space just a few miles outside of the city, this rate is lower by about $10 or $20. The price difference isn’t too drastic unless you’re really on a budget and looking to cut corners any way that you can. Your only real obstacle to locking down a unit at this facility is availability, as you’ll be competing with other students who desire the prime location. Our advice? Reserve as early as you can, but remember that not all facilities allow tenants to reserve super far in advance. A great backup options is to allow yourself some flexibility in unit size.
Calculate how much space you need and determine your unit size based on that, but be willing to accept a slightly larger sized unit so long as the facility will let you go in on the space with a friend. This will help you save money. Plus it’s a huge bonus if that friend has a truck to help you move furniture. We’re not suggesting you only befriend people with trucks, but we’re not not suggesting it either. Of course, your storage facility can also be that friend with a truck. Choose a facility that offers
truck rental and ease the pain of getting that super heavy dresser out of storage when it comes time to move from your dorm into an apartment.
Summer Storage
Atlanta’s pleasant temperatures during the school year coupled with the excitement of heading out for summer break make it easy to dump all of your stuff in storage and forget about it for a few months. Don’t fall for this temptation. In addition to figuring out your storage plans before everyone else does, you should also figure out whether or not you need
climate control. These features vary from one storage facility to another, but any level of climate control will give you an advantage over leaving your belongings in an outdoor unit. Climate control in Atlanta will protect your items against the heat and the humidity. So how do you know whether you need climate control or not? Items that are most susceptible to damage from extreme temperature and humidity include electronics, leather, artwork, musical instruments, film, valuable books, antiques and wine (though if you’re like most college students, you probably don’t have a lot of extra wine lying around for too long). If you’re in the habit of filling your college apartment with cheap, curbside furniture that you’re planning on giving away or throwing away eventually, climate controlled storage might not be for you. However, if you care about the contents of your storage unit even just a little bit, spending the extra money is worth it.
