Low Tech vs Interstellar societies...

[Enoki]

Really having trouble coming up with a reason why any planetary government worth more than 50¢ wouldn't import the machines, tools, and technology necessary to raise their tech level as quickly as possible. After a 100 years, I cannot find a single reason why any Imperium world would have a tech level below 10. Simply the economic advantages for the colonies and the survivability alone would make it all but mandatory -- wouldn't it?

Well, it could be as simple as not having the manpower and cash to do it. There are plenty of places today on Earth like that. Little islands in the middle of nowhere, towns isolated because of geography, whatever. The locals could easily be descendants of people who just wanted to be left alone, or remnants of a larger population that left when something like the mines ran out.

The result is they don't have the means to leave and might not want to. At the same time, they can't afford to generate electricity 24/7 (or the local equivalent) because of cost, lack of manpower, or whatever. More isolated locations on the planet might not have the cash to afford the equipment even if some main town or small city does. So, they've reverted to late 19th Century equivalents in technology to get by with reasonable comfort.

So, let's say you have a TL 4-5 planet, with population of 4 (tens of thousands), and a "starport" C. That is, there's something like:

The town next to it has electricity... most of the time. The locals are NOT particularly interested in the goings on elsewhere. They get by fine on what they have and can produce locally. There's little reason for them to have a lot of high tech (expensive) stuff they have to import that they really can't use. There's no local equivalent of cell phone or internet service so, they have little need for those things. Stuff there still moves on paper by hand because it works.

There are pockets and the occasional high-tech spots because of some regular need or some local--the one rich guy--that can afford them. At the starport, there's an interface for higher tech information systems and somebody that can do high-tech money exchanges because it's necessary.

The planetary government offices might have some high tech they got because they are the government. Don't ask to use it.

You need a part for your ship and try to find somebody who can make it. The guy that runs this little shop says he can in a week or so...

This is what you are dealing with. It's perfectly adequate for the locals and they can't understand your problem with the situation...

 

[Black Vulmea]

I would think that Florida, for most retirees, would be a low gravity planetoid insystem.

Because living in a pressurized tube carved from a rock in space is preferable to a cabana on a beach on a garden world?

Not following your reasoning here.

Low technological base for low cost service industry, but exceptional high teched medical facilities.

Exceptional for the wealthy, certainly. The benefits of living on a world with an unpolluted atmosphere, eating food grown in a field instead of a vat, are still mighty attractive to retirees of more modest means.

 

[Enoki]

Or, there is something there that makes it special the way it is and you'll pay good money for it. Take for instance, a local restaurant that is on the has say, two TAS stars for excellence (think Michelin Guide equivalent). It's nothing to look at from the outside, but the food is incredible, the setting is awesome, and the service is impeccable.

Yes, that's actually a Michelin star restaurant!

So, you book your table say half-a-year in advance and then show up in your primo yacht to enjoy a pricey dinner.

 

[Condottiere]

Because living in a pressurized tube carved from a rock in space is preferable to a cabana on a beach on a garden world?

Not following your reasoning here.


Exceptional for the wealthy, certainly. The benefits of living on a world with an unpolluted atmosphere, eating food grown in a field instead of a vat, are still mighty attractive to retirees of more modest means.

Enough gravity to ensure that the human body functions as intended, low enough to minimize stress on the cardiovascular system.