California’s population growth enables it to build top-of-the-line infrastructure—something that isn’t possible for Rust Belt cities.
Source: A Tale of Two Water Systems – The Atlantic
the infrastructure that gets that water to homes is expensive, and the cities are increasingly unable to afford it as more people move out and the tax base dwindles and there are fewer customers to bill
Population decline, like financial deflation, poses serious problems to systems not designed to anticipate and manage it.