Nathan and Jennifer Grube commute to Lincoln from Waverly for many reasons.

They grew up in small towns and like small-town living. They like the friendliness and knowing who their neighbors are. They like the smaller school system for daughters Megan, 5, and Emma, 2. They like being only a minute away from the grocery store when they need a gallon of milk.

And they like the money they saved by building a house in Waverly instead of Lincoln.

They bought their first home — an existing home — in Waverly about seven years ago and built good equity. Two years ago, they had a new home built on the east side of town.

"We looked at building a home in north Lincoln, but we got a lot bigger lot for a lot less money in Waverly," Nathan Grube said.

Their 95- by 122-square-foot lot cost $30,000, compared with 70- by 115-square-foot lots in Lincoln that cost $40,000 to $42,000 at that time. "It's like starting out with $15,000 in equity," Grube said. "And you don't lose anything in terms of resale."

The commute is a breeze: seven minutes to Garner Industries for Nathan; 15 minutes to the State Farm Insurance Regional Office for Jennifer.

More people like the Grubes are moving to small towns and commuting to their jobs in Lincoln, in part because homes are more affordable in smaller communities.

That is particularly true for new construction, according to area builders and real-estate agents.

"It's difficult to isolate statistical information comparing the cost of homes in small towns with comparable houses in larger towns or cities, but there seems to be more interest in living in small towns near Lincoln, and less expensive housing is one of the factors," said Doug Rotthaus, Realtors Association of Lincoln vice president.

Robin Samson, a Home Real Estate agent who lives in Waverly, compared the cost of similar new $150,000 to $300,000 three-bedroom, two-car ranches in Waverly and Lincoln. The cost per square foot is $135.75 in Lincoln and $127.93 in Waverly, a 6 percent difference.

"That comparison is not necessarily scientific, but it gives you some idea of the difference," Samson said.

Homes in small towns outside Lancaster County cost quite a bit less, she said.

In new construction, two primary factors — impact fees and lot prices — make homes in nearby small towns less expensive than in Lincoln.

Small towns don't have impact fees, which add about $3,500 to the cost of new construction in Lincoln, said Mike Goings, Lincoln Home Builders Association president and president of Goings Custom Homes and Best Value Homes.

In addition, Lincoln lot prices are rising. The average price of lots in Lincoln rose 17 percent in 2004, Rotthaus said.

Generally, lots in small towns can cost as little as $24,000 to $30,000, while few lots in Lincoln can be purchased for less than $35,000, with some running as high as $75,000 to $85,000, Goings said.

That means comparable new homes in small towns could cost $20,000 less for one in the $150,000-$170,000 price range, and $30,000 less for those that cost $200,000 or more, he said.

Home buyers also get more amenities in small town new construction, Samson said. "You can't just look at square footage, you have to look at amenities, and people are all about amenities these days."

Most new home construction near Lincoln is in Eagle, Hickman, Seward and Waverly, Goings said.

He estimated as many as 80 percent to 95 percent of the new homes in Waverly and Hickman are being purchased by people who work in Lincoln. In Seward, the percentage probably is 50 percent or less, he said.

In Country Club Heights, Goings' housing development in Seward, "We sold more lots there last year than we did in the first three years," he said.

Big selling points in that development: The lots share plenty of common green space, and hardly any of the homes have houses behind them. It would be difficult to find such lots in that price range in Lincoln, Goings said.

Three or four new developments, which will have a total of about 300 homes, are being planned for Hickman, said Kaz Lionberger, a Woods Brothers real-estate agent.

"Most people like having their kids in the Norris School District. That is a big draw. And some simply like living in a small town."

People who want to live in south Lincoln in a new home can save substantially by building in Hickman, she said.

"If you want to live on an acreage, you have to be prepared to pay for it, and those are becoming a little beyond the reach of the average Joe," she said. "But if you want a house and a regular lot, living in Hickman and driving another five or six or seven miles can be a good alternative."

The new industry coming to Waverly will increase demand for housing, and some of that housing probably will need to be more economical. Builders in Waverly work hard to keep prices competitive with Lincoln, Samson said.

In the past, existing homes outside Lincoln also have been less expensive, but that is changing in some small towns.

Existing home prices in Hickman and Waverly are catching up with Lincoln, Lionberger and Samson said.

On the other hand, existing homes in towns such as Firth, Panama, Holland, Roca, Cortland and Princeton are less expensive but also are less in demand, perhaps because Hickman has a few more amenities, Lionberger said.

Living outside Lincoln means being farther from the workplace, but that extra distance doesn't always translate into more time in the car.

Depending on where you work in Lincoln, commuting on either Highway 34 or Interstate 80 between Seward and Lincoln may actually take less time than traveling to a job within Lincoln, Goings said.

"It's a pleasant drive. You can actually do a little reflection on your way to work without having to think about traffic so much," he said.

Twenty minutes seems to be the maximum time most people want to commute to work, Samson said.

"Some people find the drive to work from Hickman is therapeutic," Lionberger said. "You can look at the gently rolling hills and the greenery and time seems to just go."

Firth is only about six miles farther on a paved road but some people seem to find commuting beyond Hickman "mentally exhausting," she said.