Is it possible some areas may flatten the curve too much at first then that area gets nailed later?

For example some states have already put in place all kinds of restrictions when there are just a trickle of cases in those states. What if this causes growth to be only a few dozen or hundred people in some large cities? Then in a couple of months they lift the restrictions and all hell breaks loose because that city won't have any herd immunity at all as other places have taken pretty solid hits but perhaps flattened the curve enough to prevent hospitals from overflowing? This is world wide so if 75% of the world takes a big hit and 25% hardly gets anything it only takes a few people to come into a community and have that city / region get nailed by a second wave then have to close schools etc again for months. Are there some guidelines for how to manage the curve to a pace a region can handle that is not too strong and not too weak? Keeping the clamps on a region until a vaccine comes out in a year and a half will destroy the area economy. It would a complete shambles by then. Areas need to be managed carefully. Hopefully I am wrong about this?