A study at the University of Missouri shows that more people are choosing to live in more urban areas while holding on to a country-like lifestyle.
Sociology Professor at the University of Missouri Rex Campbell says the preference of most Missourians is to live in a country-like setting, but not in the center of a city. Missouri’s northern and rural counties are continuing to lose its population while cities and small towns are growing.
“It’s been a couple things that I think have made a major difference,” he says. “One of them is regardless of where you live in Missouri you can have an urban level of water, sewer, electricity and so on so you don’t give up very much from living out in the country as far as the services are concerned.” He says farmers and those who work in agriculture are not really farmers in the same sense that they were a decade or a generation ago.
He says most Missourians view this as a better place to rear children. “You’re getting the better of two things. One, you’re getting a rural lifestyle but at the same time you’re getting an urban level of services.”
Campbell says another reason for the shift is there’s an increase in people who live in rural areas that commute to urban areas for their jobs.
AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:00)
