Well of course. They don't have seemingly unlimited money to piss away. They have a defined amount of resources and a problem to solve so they figure it out the best they can.

It's never the SFs, NYCs, Austins or Bostons on the world that come up with novel ways to tackle problems. They're rich enough to afford bad government and to try and spend their way out of their problems. It's the Clevelands and the Buffalos and the Newarks of the world that innovate. They don't have a choice because they have to figure out how to do more with less.