[epistasis]

This is exactly reversed, people in cities bend over backwards to adapt laws to work for people in rural areas, fund massive infrastructure efforts for rural areas, etc.

Why do we have such good and extensive roads in rural areas with such tiny tax bases? Because cities pay for it. Telephone services, electricity, broadband... all these are hugely expensive and inefficient in rural areas and need to be funded by the productivity of cities, which we gladly do.

Meanwhile rural areas have outsize weight in legislative bodies, and often make explicit laws banning cities from running in that they want to.

[concordDance]

I take it you're American? (Pretty much no one else days "we" to include anyone they're talking to)

[estebank]

>> Why do we have such good and extensive roads in rural areas with such tiny tax bases? Because cities pay for it.

> I take it you're American? (Pretty much no one else days "we" to include anyone they're talking to)

I can't think of any country (that has a rural area) where the statement wouldn't be true (although I could picture a counter example where the road infrastructure on specific rural areas is paid through export taxes and not city surplus, just none come immediately to mind).

[epistasis]

Well this is generally a US focused site, though if we are getting more input internationally here these days that would make me very happy.