Golf courses also change, in some cases deteriorate when they run out of money. The excitement that often accompanies a much-heralded place at opening and that is generated by an attending and eager stuff can also eventually deteriorate into that kind of tired, exhausted and empty feel of a place that instead of selling home lots and building houses is in fact out in the middle of nowhere and suffering a slow fade. Most of the first wave of raters tends to overrate a place anyway, which is why we need a minimum of 15 raters; ideally it would be 30, but that might take too long.
In any case, Matthew, while all of what I describe (hypothetically, of course, not to be applied in any one case) appears to be consistent with a place going from private to public, you have cause and effect confused.
Or, as social scientists will often tell you regarding cause and effect, sometimes the relationship between two phenomena is a result of them both being related to a third, dependent variable. In other words, there are reasons why places fail.