[dkarp]

I appreciate your point about population decline as that isn't something I had considered at all.

Maybe rural doesn't capture what I'm looking for, but I'm not sure of a better word and it does capture the feeling. I would like at least 4 acres and some privacy at the very least. Then the question becomes what I'd have to give up to get that. It definitely means giving up living in a big city, but maybe it doesn't mean giving up a small city/town.

[sjmm1989]

Don't listen to that blow hard. They clearly have never lived in a rural area before, or had a really bad experience in a rare situation.

Here's the truth of it for ya. Most of the technologically inclined people you are looking for in the rural areas tend to move to the cities; from the rural areas. Mostly due to the only thing that user was correct about. Opportunity.

But once they have the money to come back home, they do.

When I left my rural spot, we had people coming back to buy farms and build families. Solar panels, Starlink, etc.

Do yourself a favor and call the town offices of each place you are interested in. They can help you find out more about what they are looking to do in their respective areas, and maybe point you to some people in the same areas that might be good to talk to.

Yes, there will be religious people. But guess what? They exist in cities too. Yes there will be conservative people. But guess what? They exist in cities too.

And I can keep going on and on with that on rinse and repeat for literally anything that can be said about rural folk. Why?

Cause they move to the fucking city.

[Clubber]

Something else to consider, you want to be within 30 or so miles from a grocery store and a hospital. I would suggest looking for land outside a medium city.

[hunterb123]

Small towns have grocery stores and hospitals...

My small town has a Walmart supercenter and another grocery store

Rural is generally farm land outside of small towns, that's where people drive to get groceries.

Land outside a medium city is a suburb, not rural.

[akuchling]

Rural hospitals are going bankrupt and closing.

https://www.statnews.com/2019/02/21/lawmakers-act-prevent-ru...

"21 percent of rural hospitals nationwide are currently at high risk of imminent closure. It’s more than double that in states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Alaska, where upward of half of all rural hospitals are at high risk of closing. Overall, this adds up to about 430 hospitals in 43 states that collectively provide care for millions of Americans and employ more than 150,000 people."

[Clubber]

>Small towns have grocery stores and hospitals...

Yes, but 4-40 acres gets a lot cheaper the further you go from the town. My point was as he was looking and pricing, make sure you are 30 minutes away from a grocery store or hospital. You can always grow a garden and hunt if you so desire, but if you break your leg or something, an hour is a long drive to get it fixed.

>Land outside a medium city is a suburb, not rural.

Depends on the city.

[hunterb123]

I guess my point was you don't need to drive to a "medium city" for groceries.

Unless you're in sparser areas like Wyoming, Nevada, West Texas, etc. you're always 30 minutes or so from the nearest town no matter where you live.

If you're looking for 4-40 acres, you're not wanting land out in backcountry, you're wanting land outside a town.

[bombcar]

I really wonder about some people, and exactly where they’re finding these areas.

I suspect it’s mainly people near the high desert in the West where you can go 90 miles between gas stations.

I would consider where I am to be the edge of rural and even if I go deeper into it there are still grocery stores and hospitals.

An overlay for Google maps showing the 30 minute boundaries would be nice.

[sjmm1989]

And towns ironically can get as big as a small city. Small in the truest form though, keep in mind.

[cjameskeller]

I think you would be able to find what you're looking for at the edges of many metropolitan areas. I'm about 30 min (<40km / <25mi) from the regional city of half a million people, and it's very possible to get that kind of acreage here. I'd base your search on other factors, like climate, education (if you have or will have kids), political stability, etc, and come up with some regions to dive into in more detail.

[selectiveshift]

Take a look at Rapid City, SD. You can get 4+ acres pretty easily. We have a decent sized tech community that is active and growing.