Landscape and climate have shaped the geography of rural growth
and decline over the past 40 years. The rural outdoors has become a
major asset for rural communities. The rural outdoors can be
enhanced through the construction of recreation facilities, but
undeveloped rural landscapes have appeal on their own, both for
recreation and as attractive places to live.
ERS researchers have developed a natural amenities scale based
on the premise that people are drawn to areas with varied
topography; lakes, ponds, or oceanfront; warm, sunny winters; and
temperate, low-humidity summers. Research related to rural
amenities includes the:
- Correlation between amenities and growth,
- Influence of amenities on housing values,
- Importance of forest landscape preferences,
- Role of amenity-based recreation in rural development, and
- Creative class attraction and rural growth consequences.
ERS has also pursued research on the possible amenity value of
farmland and agriculturally based activities, exploring such issues
- Farmland protection in developing areas, and
- Potential interaction between farmland conservation practices
and rural amenities.