Bankruptcy of small US city is disappointing

The news that a small US city has had to file for bankruptcy due to a decreased tax base is extremely disappointing, but unfortunately a sign of the times. As the world becomes increasingly urbanised, smaller towns, cities and rural areas have, or appear to have, increasingly little to offer, especially for the young seeking employment. The incentives to remain are few as employment and higher living standards, in addition to the culture and lifestyle many young people seek can only be found in the big cities. This is even more relevant to the USA, where the big cities are the true definition of city life due to their large scale. But where does this leave the older generations, and the smaller towns and cities left to try and forge an existence for themselves?

The mass migration of people to larger towns and cities has grave implications for the political, economic, social and cultural make-up of smaller towns and rural areas. First of all, as Stockton in the US has shown, it leaves a place with a much lower amount of tax funds with which to fund local life. It also, to a certain extent, deprives a town of the economic potential it might have based on the lifestyle young people want. In terms of employment, it leaves demand for  what little industry remains, such as agriculture and local services, to fall away, supported by the locals that remain just trying to eke out a living. This is a very sad trend, but one that is unlikely to be reversed any time soon.

So what is the solution? Young people in the UK have recently said that the tide is going against those who do want to stay in their smaller and rural towns and villages, as if they want employment of any repute, they must leave and head to somewhere larger in order to 'make it in the big wide world'. However, isn't it at least possible that the bigger cities within a region or urban conurbation that have a higher level of economic success story could cross-subsidise by putting funding into a smaller town or village? Isn't it possible to provide incentives for young people to move there by building cheap, affordable housing that can be either rented or bought? This could increase the population by encouraging people to stay and build families there. There are many solutions, it's simply a matter of whether national, regional and local governments decide to implement them.