Quote:
Originally Posted by Dion
As for High River there is a hospital where doctors and nurses work. Then there's 4 Public schools and one Catholic where one can work as a teacher etc.. Then there's all the small business owners in town. Our former mayor is a land developer and builder. The on going housing development that employs all the trades in the construction industry Dentists and lawyers. People who work for the town in various roles.
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None of that, other than construction - which is more an effect of growth, not a cause - is much in the way of industry. The difference lies in whether you are sellling goods and services to other polities, or whether you are mostly providing workers, and the latter is what defines a bedroom community.
Whether that's "parasitism" is debatable, as those workers are providing labour, not just pulling down a paycheque for nothing, but from the point of view of municipal services they are definitely a net drain on city coffers. The city has an obligation to the taxpayers that sustain it to try to limit this drain, as unchecked, it can severely affect a city's growth or even cause it to shrink in the long run, like has happened in cities like Detroit or Buffalo in the States. Which isn't good for anyone, resident or not.