It's actually not baffling. Cities want more offices and less housing because housing requires costly services that aren't covered by property taxes, especiall

It's actually not baffling. Cities want more offices and less housing because housing requires costly services that aren't covered by property taxes, especially if it's high-density rental housing which rarely changes owners. Remember, parcel taxes are assessed per parcel, not per unit. A 1000 unit for-sale condo complex generates 1000 parcel taxes. A 1000 unit rental complex on the same parcel generates 1 parcel tax. And the apartment owner lobby (CAA) fights successfully to keep this system in place. Cities like retail because of the sales tax revenue, but developers don't like it because retail is less profitable than commercial office or rental housing. Anytime something seems obvious, there is probably a good reason why there's more to it than meets the eye. Solving these issues is so hard because the developers have the money to lobby legislators to avoid any solution that would impact them financially.