Final answer:
Modern factories often opt for suburban and rural areas due to lower land costs, favorable transportation networks, and proximity to suppliers and customers. These areas allow for expansion and reduce operational costs, with environmental regulation costs being only a minor consideration.
Step-by-step explanation:
Modern factories often choose to locate inside suburban and rural areas for a variety of reasons that revolve around various situation factors and site location factors. One of the main considerations is the cost of land, which tends to be less expensive in these areas compared to urban centers. This allows for greater space for factory expansion and reduces the costs associated with spatial diseconomies of scale, such as difficulties in freight access. Moreover, location near highway interchanges rather than being reliant solely on traditional transportation methods like rivers and railroads affords greater flexibility in operations. The proximity to reliable suppliers, closeness to customer bases, quality of transportation and communications infrastructure, the level of taxes, and local government efficiency also play critical roles in the decision-making process. Notably, environmental regulation costs, while a factor, are generally a minimal part of the overall expenses faced by an industrial plant and thus do not heavily influence location choices.