Posted by David Hamilton on December 3rd, 2009

Wendy Bounds has written a very interesting feature in the Wall Street Journal on so-called “Ruralpolitans.”  She essentially profiles a number of different types of folks who are seeking places to live in a more rural environment. 

Motivation among this cohort ranges from being fed up with traffic, through a common and simple desire to live closer to the land, to honest-to-goodness paranoia.

Regardless of the reason, Bounds gathers some data that show that rural real estate markets have, by and large, outperformed other segments during the recent recession, in some cases posting gains.

I found this to be a fascinating anecdotal story that dovetails nicely with a more rigorous presentation at the recent Baldwin Center symposium:  Professor Bruce Dotson presented a diagram of the U.S. which essentially proposed that the “reurbanization” that many planners would assert is underway in our country is in fact something else, a “de-suburbanization.”  In other words, Americans are leaving suburbs, and moving both into urban areas, and out to rural areas.  They’re done with the middle ground…

Filed under: General