"New Country Squires" in greater NYC

Vivan Toy's story under that headline in the New York Times is about NYC dwellers who cannot afford to buy there and so are getting into the second-home market in the Hudson River Valley, upstate New York, and some "rural" places even farther afield. Here's a quote:

Joan Lonergan, the owner of Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty, which has three Hudson Valley offices ... said that there have always been Manhattan renters looking to buy a slice of the country. “But I think there might be more of it now, because there has been so much trepidation about the New York City market and some people see this as being more secure,” she said.

One family with two young children explained their motivation for seeking a place "in the country": “We enjoy raising our children in the city, but we live in a small amount of space and we can’t afford to buy anything in the city ... Being able to stretch out on the weekends and in the summer would really help.”

Is this just another urban use of the rural?