> "Most people don’t want to live in Manhattan or similarly dense settings. I’m not sure why the state or voters felt it would be okay to take away local choice or why they thought it would be easy."

If that were true, apartment prices in Manhattan and similarly dense places would be a lot cheaper. The fact that people are willing to pay a premium to live somewhere is a direct expression of the fact that they prefer to live there.

The main reason local jurisdictions resist construction is because landowners (not to be confused with developers) benefit from doing so. The artificial shortage of housing drives up the price of their property.