Because NIMBYism is part of the cultural momentum within America as a whole. There's a lot of well-intentioned regulations that had the cumulative effect of ma

Because NIMBYism is part of the cultural momentum within America as a whole. There's a lot of well-intentioned regulations that had the cumulative effect of making it really hard to build things, and people have gotten used to this. Many even feel entitled to randomly stop new construction for whatever reason they feel like, and many planning boards are all too happy to go along with them. The people who suffer most from not enough new housing, after all, are potential residents, and potential residents can't vote.