[sametmax]

Yeah no. We have plenty of shrinking cities in France. The water system is still in perfect shape.

My old grand mother city is one of them: streets are full of closed shops, but the infrastructures are in perfect shape. Roads are pristine. Water is clear. Electricity is never ever missing.

[natermer]

Scale and time matters. How many of those cities have lost over 60% of their population since their peak?

The general decay in France is going to be at a much slower rate then some place like Detroit. This means that the increasing tax burden, crumbling infrastructure, and financial crisis not only are much less noticeable, but governments have more time to react and mitigate the issue.

The reason why places like Flint are impressive in their decay is because the rate of change in population is so extreme.

[sametmax]

From what I understand, the US has plenty of water problems even in populated areas.

And from experience, a lot of US roads suck, even in rich and dense area such as the Bay.

So while I agree with the logic of your point, I think the core of the problem lies elsewhere.