[M_Six]

We live out in a "township." It's an unincorporated area outside a town. We pay lower property taxes, but we don't have a dedicated police or fire department. We have the county sheriff and a volunteer fire district. But we're close enough to the main utilities that we have natural gas and supplied water, plus cable TV/Internet. Just down the road from us is a creek where the underground utilities end. Houses past that point have well water, propane tanks, satellite TV, and DSL (if they're lucky). Their electricity is supplied via overhead power lines, which are susceptible to wind damage. Ours is underground.

So taxes, utilities, and services are probably the big three things to consider when you go rural. We live close enough to town where shopping, dining, etc is not an issue. Five minute drive into town.

The other thing to consider when going rural is the lack of ordinances. Where we live there are virtually no ordinances at all. You can burn anything at any time. You can play loud music at all hours or blast fireworks all night long or even have a pistol range in your backyard. For the most part folks are considerate. But there are often times when we get sick of hearing gunfire a few houses away or one of our neighbors decides late Saturday night is the perfect time to tune up his Harley. That sort of thing. I have a nephew who lives on the border between city land and rural land in Florida. He's within the city limits, but his backyard fence abuts rural property. He also has issues with neighbors shooting guns all the time or blasting fireworks. So if you're accustomed to relative civility in an urban environment, you may find rural life takes some getting used to.