[capeterson]

This is not really a false dichotomy. The only other option would be to delay/cancel this project to just do the same thing in the same way somewhere else, which isn't really that different of an option.

For your example, it is almost literally impossible to destroy enough SFH's to build skyscraper apartments (where do these people go?) even if these SFH lots were somehow also zoned for massive skyscrapers (which they are certainly not).

I think your example is not necessarily a bad idea either, it's just an impossible idea. Nowadays we just can't simply displace thousands of people and then build structures in areas that aren't zoned for those structures.