How the warehouse boom changed the way America looks, lives, and works

As the US emerged from the Great Recession, cheap real estate and the rise of e-commerce collided to create a warehousing boom.

As Amazon and others began building million-square-foot distribution centers, construction skyrocketed. Since 2011, over 2.3 billion square feet of new warehouse space has come to market — enough room to comfortably stuff 3 ½ Manhattans inside.

Past industrial booms created coal country, steel cities, and oil towns. Now warehouse boomtowns shoot up in places like California's Inland Empire, Pennsylvania's Lehigh County, and Columbus, Ohio, and the number of warehouse workers has nearly tripled in a decade.

Here, Business Insider explores how the rise of warehouses and warehouse work has changed the US and its citizens as we became a Warehouse Nation.

A guide to Warehouse Nation

Warehouses and employers like Amazon bring new jobs and higher wages for some blue-collar workers, but also can be hard on cities — and on the human body.

The new blue-collar workplace reshaping America, for better or worse

5 min read

A surge in warehouse work

Using data and on-the-ground reporting, BI looked at the opportunities and hidden costs of the rise of warehouse work.

Meet the Amazon warehouse workers paying the price for fast, free shipping

The Columbus, Ohio, Warehouse Boom: How warehouses brought stifling dust and diesel fumes — and a chance for refugees to grab the American dream

19 min read

Amazon workers say minor aches suddenly became debilitating as they raced to meet speed targets

15 min read

How the warehouse boom devoured America's workforce

9 min read

Read more from 'Warehouse Nation'

A look from BI at how the warehouse boom has reshaped America.

Meet the Amazon warehouse workers paying the price for fast, free shipping

The new blue-collar workplace reshaping America, for better or worse

5 min read

The Columbus, Ohio, Warehouse Boom: How warehouses brought stifling dust and diesel fumes — and a chance for refugees to grab the American dream

19 min read

Amazon workers say minor aches suddenly became debilitating as they raced to meet speed targets

15 min read

How the warehouse boom devoured America's workforce

9 min read

Warehouse giants like Amazon and others are desperate for more robots, but human workers worry they make the job more dangerous

10 min read

How getting dog food delivered to your door explains the inefficient, sometimes absurd, extremely convenient way online orders are shipped

7 min read

Blackstone and Prologis turned warehouses from safe and boring investments into white-hot assets. Now they're battling to see who can own more.

9 min read

The warehouse boom turned tiny storefronts into hectic delivery hubs — and neighbors want them gone

6 min read

Amazon has changed how warehouses work in America. Some unions are using it as a chance to organize.

8 min read

My logistics company operates warehouses in 2 of the sector's hottest markets. We made 8 figures in revenue last year thanks to the boom in e-commerce.

6 min read

The online shopping frenzy pushed warehouses into Pennsylvania's once quiet Lehigh Valley. Unhappy locals are pushing back.

8 min read