Clearly the communities as a whole are trying to maintain an environment they like, and which they already have, not trying to create in anyone else's place to suit themselves, and the zoning is doing exactly the job it exists to do.
I see no reason that more people have to cram in to a place that is already full to capacity according to it's desired density level, until such time as the country runs out of space anywhere else.
I will note again that eliminating the restrictive zoning also doesn't equal a mandate over what landowners must to do with their land. You're welcome to keep your plot as-is. You just can't tell your neighbor what to do with their land.
The municipality IS keeping it's plot the way they want it.
0.25 acre plot is not a country, it's a part of something else, and at that something else level, it is valid to make the same sorts of decisions for themselves as the homeowner does for their lot.
I would hate life in an HOA. What I do about that is I don't move into an HOA, not to move into one and demand that they let me raise chickens on "my own property".
I think I was 15 years old or less the last time I thought zones were some sort of travesty of injustice. Same a taxes.