When rural communities find that they are no longer relatively self-sufficient and are being more directly affected by changes in the remainder of the world, there arises a certain essential tension between the traditional values of the existing rural community and the values of the larger world.  The community usually finds itself in crisis, isn't prepared, doesn't comprehend, and fears the change that it senses is imminent.  How to preserve the best of a culture and quality of life as we steer a course into a more prosperous and satisfying future?

These issues are distinct from normal development patterns in urban areas in many ways - and thus should be perceived as different - and are normally viewed by the development professions (business persons, economists, planners, developers, politicians, etc.) as the "rurban" phenomena.  Not well understood in the United States, it still is observable and distinct.

This site is dedicated to the best and most affirming of the approaches to the issues of interest concerning "rurbanization" within the US, and from the particular point of view of our community here in Gulf County, Florida. 

We call this approach "Rurbane" - empathetic to the common values of both the rural community and of the predominantely urban sensibilities that inevitably arrive with investment dollars that value the rural amenities, either as tourists, recreational enthusiasts, environmentalists or developers.

Rurbane is the refinement of the most elegant resolutions to the essential tension between rural and urban sensibilities - rurbane is what is created when rural legacies meet, greet and embrace urban sensibilities (apologies to Rilke).