Home on the Range - Again?

While rural life would be considered a nightmare by some of us, the idea of 'living in the country' is still a heartfelt dream for many. Is it really so different living in the rural areas, or is it just more peaceful with more birdsong?

The first ever consensus-based standard for all residential construction, both rural and urban should surely throw some light on the situation. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is soon to publish its National Green Building Standard which will be a report that encompasses nation-wide housing information.

Some housing and lifestyle analysts are likening the NAHB's pending results to the findings recently published from a report on rural life in the UK. The similarities in lifestyle that are apparent in this report may have us all phoning our realtors to move house!

That report, which is not only about housing, but also about rural life and its comparable equality with urban life, had some pointers for builders in the USA to note. Certainly some of the observations sound similar to what we might expect to hear back home in USA. For instance, one of the UK recommendations, was requesting more high speed internet access in remote areas and this has already been echoed in rural North America.

Developers must realize that high speed Internet access would be a positive factor in selling a home in rural America. It will make the country side seem more attractive and less remote - even though it is this remoteness that is so attractive to many of the residents.

Another interesting factor that will likely apply over here, is that the number of start-up business have been higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Also they have shown overall growth compared to a net decline in urban businesses, so moving to the country has its plusses when you are trying to economize!

Many rural residents have larger plots of land and/or acreage than their urban counterparts. They often grow their own vegetables, or even keep animals on the land. In this respect, the positives and negatives of the two countries seem fairly similar. For example, the UK reported that healthier lifestyles are more the norm in the country, even though their housing costs use up a larger percentage of their wages, which are usually lower in rural areas.

The report closed by noting that the changing use of land will affect country folk. It pointed out that due to changes in the global economy, land usage is likely to change. Whereas its traditional use in both USA and UK has been that of solely growing food for eating, it may now switch and add the growing of food for energy.

This switch, coupled with "changes in the world economy and international security " says the UK report is likely to mean that food security will "drive policy".

If this report is anything to go by, maybe we should be phoning our real estate agents. It sounds as if we should all be considering a home in the country; it may be a good investment in the future to buy our own little vegetable patch where we can let a few chickens wander under the fruit trees!