If you think that “O-H” is a greeting and “I-O” is the only acceptable response, you either already live in Columbus or you’re at least contemplating a move there. And who wouldn’t want to live in Columbus? It’s the liberal, brainy, beautiful capital of the state. In fact, if Ohio were a high school, we’re pretty sure Columbus would be the prom king quarterback who’s also valedictorian and is nice to everyone (kind of annoying, but you know you want to be friends with him). With an estimated population of 825,000 lovely people and counting, there’s no better time to make your move to the land of cold winters, hot summers and peanut butter chocolate candy. Here’s what you need to know about storage in Columbus:
Get What You Need, Pay What You Want
If you’re a transplant to Columbus and you’re accustomed to high prices, the reasonable cost of renting an apartment ($700 a month on average for a one bedroom) will surprise you in a good way. Storage is like that too. It’s easy to find a 5x5 unit for around $40. Generally, you’ll notice that prices go up as you get closer to Ohio State. The behemoth of a university is not only one of the biggest colleges in the country, it’s also a great source of business for local storage facility. If you’re a college student, check out our article on university storage in Columbus that’s tailored to your interests, and prepare yourself for stiff competition on storage space near your school. If you’re not in college, you’ll pretty much only be competing with college students for a storage unit if you’re storing near the school. If you don’t think you’ll be visiting your storage unit that often, expand your scope to the outskirts of the city where you’ll find lower prices and more availability. You should also use our
size guide to figure out exactly how much space you’ll need. If you need an enormous unit (think big enough to fit several rooms of furniture), you won’t be competing with college students for space.
Accessing Your Unit
Planning on coming and going to and from your Columbus storage unit on a regular basis? Here are some things to consider. First of all, and perhaps most importantly, avoid driving to your storage unit during a Buckeye home game. Since living in Columbus makes you a Buckeye football fan by default, we’re going to assume you’ll have some idea of when the games are. If not, consult the school website, the local newspaper, or the exuberant hoard of drunk people outside of the stadium. Buckeye fans treat tailgating like it’s a professional sport itself. Other events to keep an eye out for when it comes to traffic include Columbus’s many festivals (there’s one for every season). In the summer, there’s
Jazz and Rib Fest, a joyous event during which you can consume ribs while listening to some sweet, sultry saxophone music in an open air setting. In the fall there’s the
Columbus Italian Festival which offers parades, bocce ball and pasta and chianti for days. In the dead of winter, there’s the
Columbus Winter Beerfest, a two night event with 350 craft brews available for your sampling pleasure. In the spring, there’s the
Ohioana Book Festival, your one stop shop for meeting every great Ohio writer in the literary world. We suggest planning your move, your storage trip and your big important drives around these festivals, that way you can enjoy them and save hauling boxes for a traffic-free day. You can also opt for a facility that offers
24 hour access and head to your unit whenever you please.
Find Your Calling and Find Commercial Storage
Columbus has a super diverse economy. The city isn’t defined by one industry and its residents aren’t forced to rely on one or two companies for job opportunity. Move to Columbus and you’ll have your choice of career paths. Unemployment is pretty low (4.1%) and the city is ranked high in terms of literacy, education and opportunity, which means you’ll probably want to show up with a college degree or at least make plans to earn one. Once your resume is polished and ready, you can look to big fields like technology, insurance and education to name a few. Major players on the Columbus job market include the Battelle Memorial Institute (the world’s largest nonprofit research center), Nationwide Mutual Insurance, American Electric Power (they turn the lights on for more than 5 million customers in 11 states), Big Lots, Cardinal Health, The Limited and Red Roof Inn. We’re telling you; the big business names go on and on. Once you decide what you want to be when you grow up, remember what to look for in a commercial storage unit. Look for a facility that accepts deliveries, has a business center, allows a reasonably large number of people from your company to have access, values good security and offers climate control for all of your important documents and inventory.
