The problem is that adding high density housing to an area not built for it has a chicken and egg problem. When you add a massive high rise a lot of people move in. They all need to commute somewhere. Except now the streets can't accommodate the car traffic and the public transit system is also inadequate. And it will take a decade to catch up. So in the meantime everyone around the new high rise gets to suffer for the next 10 years, and it's understandable why they aren't particularly excited about it. On the other hand you can't build up the infrastructure first because you don't have any money to do so pre-emptively.