The problem is that we went from "it'd be nice if people didn't open up a slaughterhouse next to the school or next to our houses" to "OMG A DUPLEX ITS RUINING THE NEIGHBORHOOD OMG OMG!!!!"
It happened to me, and just like it happens to virtually everybody in the same situation.
In the Bay Area somehow we have moved to where people somehow have power to stop building even when the building meets the current zoning laws. This really needs to change. There is some movement at the state level to help with this problem and I hope they pass legislation that, if your building plan is withing zoning laws, you get to build it.