Living on 20 acres isn't even necessarily that "rural" - anyone who wants that can live in any number of exurbs surrounding large metro areas while commuting to

Living on 20 acres isn't even necessarily that "rural" - anyone who wants that can live in any number of exurbs surrounding large metro areas while commuting to work in the city (price permitting). I have family with a dozen acres and they still get their overnight Amazon deliveries and opera concerts while living on a well and septic tank. All funded by a position at a scientific institute on the other side of the metro area with a one way commute time under an hour (not great, but still better than some commutes they've suffered through in LA). Rural is when you have to drive to get to your nearest neighbor. I think the vast majority of people who live in rural areas only do so out of generational inertia. The entire rural population can very easily be fit into the exurbs around metros if that's what they wanted