Its a matter of politics. US can afford it, but that'd be "Evil Federal Government laying down red tape on locals".

It doesn't help that the local government is sometimes even more incompetent than the Federal Government either. I mean, redirecting the entire city water-supply to a poisoned river? That's some grade A F---ed up right there.

In any case, America overall is a strong country, but the worst parts of America are equivalent to a 3rd-World nation.

It's also a matter of drawing boundaries. It doesn't make any more sense to complain that Sweden is nicer than Flint, than it would to make the same complaint about Seattle or Philadephia. Or, taking the converse, it makes as much sense to blame Swedes for the state of urban decay in Belarus.

It's also a matter of population density. If the people move away, the buildings they leave behind soon start to look like this.

There was a documentary on this (with mostly simulated desolation): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433058/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2