I'm not in the US, but last weekend we had a family gathering and were discussing buying a place in a small village a bit further out from all the city action. On paper it checks out: prices are low, the scenery is beyond fantastic, quiet and you can still drive up to a city or some local town fairly easily. But then we started talking negatives: unemployment, poverty, higher crime rates than you'd like it to be,etc. Unless the place is populated by people of similar socioeconomic status, it's likely to be a tough going from day one.