Rural Cluster Zoning: Survey and Guidelines

Abstract

Rural counties close to urban areas are the fastest-growing places in America. During the past three decades, outlying metropolitan counties, characterized by rural settlement patterns and heavy commuting to the metropolitan core, grew at a much faster rate than the nation, central metropolitan counties, or metropolitan statistical areas as a whole. Between 1970 and 1987, the population of outlying counties in metropolitan areas increased by nearly 7.5 million.¹ As more people work at home, retired populations grow, and workplaces suburbanize—people are looking for homes beyond suburbia.