Something I've noticed that came to mind as I happen to be vacationing in Playa Del Carmen (Mexico) while reading this. I'm from Canada; visiting here, and wal

Something I've noticed that came to mind as I happen to be vacationing in Playa Del Carmen (Mexico) while reading this. I'm from Canada; visiting here, and walking through the town, I obviously notice many buildings, vehicles, roads, etc. are in much more of a state of disrepair than I'm used to at home. This includes downtown areas, so it's not a sprawl issue, but (I assume) just that there isn't the same amount of capital invested into maintaining infrastructure, updating vehicles, etc. that we see at home. (On average; obviously there are plenty of exceptions.) Now, this isn't surprising since GDP per capita in Mexico is much lower than in Canada or the United States. However, in most visits I've made to the US, I've noticed the same thing to a lesser extent. Almost anywhere roads are in worse condition that what I'm used to. Outside of large cities, infrastructure in general seems more run-down than in similar places in Canada. But this is all just in my limited personal experience. So first of all, I'm curious whether this is actually the case, or just my own biased personal experience. Have other cross-border travelers noticed this? And if it is a real thing, then I'm curious what the reasons are, given that the US has somewhat higher GDP per capita than Canada. Some possibilities I've considered are 1) wealth in the US is more concentrated in large cities than in Canada. I'm sure this is the case in both countries, but perhaps the effect is greater in the US? 2) The spending priorities in the two countries are different. For instance, US spending on healthcare and on military are both higher per capita than Canadian. Perhaps Canada just spends more (publicly and/or privately) on infrastructure and less on other things? If so, is this the result of intentional priorities to some extent? Or is it just an artifact of history or of governmental structures? I'm not trying to argue that one approach is better than another, or even that my observations are generalize-able. Just curious if others have noticed the same and have thoughts.