Because the same people who bitch about the cost of living going up in the city where their family has lived for n generations will also flip their shit if you

Because the same people who bitch about the cost of living going up in the city where their family has lived for n generations will also flip their shit if you try to build anything that doesn't look like the 3 story Victorians they have giant fetishes for. Of course, that's a bit exaggerated (there are skyscrapers going up downtown and some neighborhoods have the occasional modern-looking condo). Still, the problem is fairly untractable in the current climate. There's an endless stream of people ready to wait in line to bitch at every one of the multi-year stretch of town hall meetings needed to do anything that meanders away from the well-established status quo. (For reference, see all the FUD spread about Polk Street that led to the eventual neutering of that project).