First, not-in-my-back-yard resistance to apartment and condo projects is alive and well. Second, in Charlotte almost all never-before-developed land, including farms, was zoned decades ago for single-family subdivisions.
That encourages developers to avoid the cost and hassle of a rezoning and build single-family neighborhoods instead of the mixed-used and higher-density projects the city is trying to attract. It's suburban growth on auto-pilot.
My emphasis.