Also zoning is mostly relevant when an area is newly erricted. Thus regarding
> So you should decide what people want, not the people that live there?
There is nobody yet living there.
Changing that after the fact is hard. A small corner supermarket in "suburbia" isn't sustainable as residents can't easily reach it without lots of other changes (walking/cycling infrastructure, public transport, ...) and if people have to use the car anyways the mall a mile or two further south is more attractive.
I didnt say "I" should decide, just speaking plainly that laws are written by whoever shows up, most people have higher priorities. It's a fault in democracy from my perspective, we are not all equal in the amount of free time we have. The poor are busy with survival, the rich/leisure class gets to spend all day lobbying and campaigning. Maybe with universal basic income, politics would be more representative since more people would have time to participate.
So you should decide what people want, not the people that live there?
People do show up at the polls when they want something, this is not what they want, so they don't show up.
You know who wants it? huge corporations that would be more than happy to destroy quiet residential areas so they can sell $6 cups of coffee and increase the value of their stock.