Rural living is more possible now with remote work.  My parents are thriving on that model.

On a related note, my wife and I were discussing recently about part of the reason for the "brain drain" from rural areas into the cities has been the centralization and export of manufacturing industries.  As a result, there are no jobs left out in the country other than agriculture, really.

In theory, industries like textiles and food processing would be well-suited to have numerous plants spread through rural areas to be close to the source of raw materials.  But due to globalization, it has all been shipped overseas or condensed into a few mega-facilities.