As far as military towns go, San Diego is the quintessential west coast base. Thanks to its prime coastal location and deepwater port, San Diego is home to a few major military branches. It has a massive submarine and shipbuilding yard as well as the largest naval fleet in the world. The city is home to about 95,000 uniformed military men and women and that’s not even counting their spouses and kids (add those in and you’ve got a military presence of over 175,000). In addition to that, an estimated 300,000 jobs are related to Department of Defense contracts and 15,000 businesses rely on those contracts. And of course, don’t forget about new recruits and reserves who spend brief amounts of time here. There’s also a big veteran network in San Diego because who wouldn’t want to retire in California? After hearing that, we’re sure that your first thought probably isn’t, “Where am I going to find storage as a military member in San Diego?” We promise you though, this will be a thought that enters your mind at some point. Fortunately, we’ve already done the legwork. Here’s our advice on military storage in San Diego:
Military Perks
Because of the enormous presence of military men and women in San Diego, it’s significantly easier to get a military discount on local storage facilities than it is in a lot of other places. Several examples of the many storage facilities in San Diego that offer military discounts include
Secure Self Storage,
A-1 Self Storage, and
A-Aardvark Self Storage. Most facilities that offer discounts usually offer them to not only active duty military members but also to dependents and veterans too, so as long as you’ve got a military ID, you should be good to go. The typical discount that you should expect is 10%. One other military perk in San Diego is the large network of storage facility managers who are used to dealing with military members and are more familiar with their needs. Most storage facilities are happy to offer flexible, month-to-month leases and online bill pay, as these are features that make your on-the-go military life a little bit easier. Storage facilities in San Diego also know that since your job is to serve and protect our country, you probably expect a property that will protect the items in your storage unit. Look for excellent security features, like good lighting, a fenced in property, restricted access to outsiders and a manager that knows the value of
a good lock. In San Diego, you can find built in extra security by opting for upper level indoor units as well as underground units (
All American Self Storage is a great place for the latter).
Storage and Military Housing
Military housing can range from a bunk in the barracks to a privatized housing development to a flyer referring you to decent apartments in the area. Where you’re stationed in San Diego will determine your housing options as well as your storage needs. Whatever your situation is, you can expect it to change a few times over the course of your military career, whether that means moving from a small room to a house or between apartments in different cities. Because we’re talking about military storage in San Diego rather than just military storage in general, you might find that the high cost of living in the city forces you into a smaller apartment or house than the one you lived in in your previous city. Trying to figure out how to fit a three bedroom house’s worth of furniture, clothing and other items into a two bedroom apartment can seem impossible. We recommend separating what you absolutely must have in your new place beforehand and putting the other items in storage. You can use our
storage calculator to keep track of what you’re putting in storage and figure out what storage size you need. If you need a storage unit big enough to fit at least an extra room of stuff in, you’ll probably be looking at a unit that’s at least 10x10 or 10x20. In San Diego, these run at between $150 on the low end of the spectrum and $300 on the high end of the spectrum. Since you’re new in town, choose facilities that offer specials for new customers like one month of free storage. If you’ve signed a 12 month lease on an apartment or home and you know you’ll be storing your items for at least that long, talk to your facility manager about lease options and see what you can do to lock in a rate for the length of the time you’re in your current housing situation. And remember, if you’re storing for at least a few months, consider the advantages of facilities that offer
climate control so that your items look just as fresh after a year in storage as they did the day you put them in.
