I own a house worth single digit millions in a neighboring town to Palo Alto.
The thing is, the life is exactly the way I want it. There's no dysfunction or riffraff like you see in San Francisco. I will vote against development because I simply don't want development. I was exactly the opposite before I bought this house, now that I put over 100% of my net worth into the house I am on the opposite side of the table.
My net worth is under $10 million but I would not accept a $30m check to live in a condo on the 35th floor directly over the land that I inhabit today.
We can either have slow, incremental development that keeps up and tempers demand. Or we can let that demand build up so much that it becomes an issue in the higher political unit (in this case, the state of California). It would take literal generations for that demand to rise so much that a majority of people are on the losing side of that political position... and it has.
The YIMBYs wouldn't be a threat to the people in Palo Alto if the effects of NIMBYism hadn't grown and entrenched themselves for literally 50 years. We are now dealing with the consequences of decisions made in the late-70's and early-80s by people making the same argument that you are making today.
I feel exactly the same as you on not wanting the character of the place I live to change, in a nearby city. I made tremendous sacrifice and investment to live somewhere pleasant. Increasing density will make it exactly like the other places I did not want to live.
That said, $30m will buy a lot of freedom to live like this somewhere else.
To each their own, but I'd accept a $30m check to move to a different town in a heartbeat. With that amount of money I wouldn't have to worry about commuting distances...
The thing is, the life is exactly the way I want it. There's no dysfunction or riffraff like you see in San Francisco. I will vote against development because I simply don't want development. I was exactly the opposite before I bought this house, now that I put over 100% of my net worth into the house I am on the opposite side of the table.
My net worth is under $10 million but I would not accept a $30m check to live in a condo on the 35th floor directly over the land that I inhabit today.