03/16/2008
By Gary Truitt
There is a new buzzword across the countryside; it is “rural lifestyle”. Simply put, this refers to people who live in the country but aren’t farmers. Farm folks call them “city slickers”, “outsiders,” or just “those people who moved here from…” Now the marketing and advertising industry has decided these people are a demographic segment and are researching them to death. The reason for this is because there are more of them than ever before. In the past decade, a large numbers of people have left the city looking for that perfect plot of ground they can call their own. They brought with them a different set of values and expectations and a different culture. And this, in turn, is changing rural America.
It has been estimated that there are 27 million households that make up the rural lifestyle group. One in four households in the US is not located in a city or town. For the most part, these are not the urbanites who move into the new housing development that last year was a corn field. Only 12% of rural residents live on an acre or less.
The true rural lifestyle begins with the land. Thirteen percent live on 3 to 5 acres, and eighteen percent live on 10 to 49 acres. The majority are employed as professionals or management, and most are in their 40s and 50s Sixty percent own dogs, while forty percent are cat people. They are also big into horses, owning an average of 4 horses. Seventy percent own a pickup truck, and over half own a tractor under 18HP. They are also well armed with 70% owning shotguns.
While this group has many things in common with farmers, they also have some significant differences. Primarily, they see the countryside as a place to live and play while for farmers it is a place to work. This difference in worldview can result in conflicts when local land use and development issues are considered. While most rural lifestylers were raised in the city, most farmers were raised in the country. This has resulted in two very different cultures.
I noticed this when I attended my first rural lifestyle trade show last week. A veteran of many farm shows, I was struck by the differences at this show. First, it did not start until afternoon and ran late into the evening. Most farm shows start early and farmers are always the first to arrive. The PA system was playing Bill Joel instead of George Straight.
The trade show was much different with only one John Deere display and several western wear and saddle booths. People were wearing more leather than denim, and cowboy hats outnumbered seed hats.
While some long time aggies may resent the new lifestyle, these newcomers have brought new energy and, most notably, more money to rural communities. These folks have come in large enough numbers that they can not be dismissed, and, since the vast majority owns their land, they have come to stay. Rural America in the future will be significantly different than it has been in the past, and both farmers and their rural lifestyle neighbors will play a part in shaping this new community.
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