Sure, that sounds nice in theory, but probably isn't practical.

Short of serious corruption, most cities are about as nice as their current tax base allows. Giving a company a tax break to incentivize that company to move into their city allows them to grow their tax base and improve their city for everybody. But it's not like cities are just sitting on potential attractors for employers to move in.

It's not about nice, it's about structure. What sorts of development are they encouraging? Is the main street an endless series of the same chain restaurants, or does it have a livable core? Are they encouraging rental properties to make the it easier to live there? Are they promoting high-priced condos instead to get quick hits of cash?

Policy is a highly subjective thing, but it also takes decades for it to make an impact.

This is capitalism isn't it. What should the government encourage? To let the consumers and the producers decide for themselves.

There's a difference between a well tended garden and one left to do whatever it wants.

Consumers and producers don't always get to decide. If you live in a small town that has a Wal-Mart then it's extremely difficult to compete directly with that store if you're just some independent. People might like your business, but you can't buy at the same volumes, you can't force the hand of city council for tax breaks, you have almost no power in comparison.

Absent good governance then corporations decide everything and we get to "decide" between the options they deign to give us.

This is challenging too, most cities would much prefer Amazon to a new coal processing facility, for example.

> Underdog cities could and should compete by improving their offering for everyone

That's not necessarily true. A city may not want everyone, or they may particularly want Amazon. Competition is competing, one part of which is incentives to localize in an area. Since so many places want an HQ2, it is Amazon's market not that of the cities.

Cities can rail against having to compete in a competition, but those cities likely will not win the competition.