Downsizing has affected private institutions, public agencies, and the military, as well as businesses. T WO things happen when a city loses population. The reason for the first is that although a city is often said to be shrinking, its physical area remains the same. The same number of streets must be policed and repaired, sewers and water lines maintained, and transit systems operated. With fewer taxpayers, revenues are lower, often leading to higher taxes per capita, an overall deterioration of services, or both.
More people depart, and the downward spiral continues.
The reason for the second is that urban vitality has always depended on an adequate concentration of people. The reality is even worse than it sounds, because the decline was not distributed equally across the city, and certain areas experienced much more dramatic reductions. Without sufficient concentrations of people, not only is the provision of normal municipal services extremely expensive but urban life itself begins to break down. There are not enough customers to support neighborhood stores and services, or even to provide a sense of community. Empty streets become unsafe, and abandoned buildings become haunts for drug dealers and other criminals.