[jrockway]

This is just a minor defect in democracy; representatives are chosen by people that already live there, so there is no strong electoral incentive to advocate for new residents. Sure, they will get more property tax revenue which pays for ... everything ... but, if you already have enough, you don't really want more. I don't think anyone in Cupertino is suffering from lack of government services, so there isn't a strong reason to vote in change.

I think people are also irrationally afraid that building new housing will drive down the price of their existing housing, but do we really see that happen? (Why do real estate prices always go up? Because people will be stubborn and not sell their home for less than they paid, unless there is a Detroit-like crisis, which Cupertino is definitely not in danger of. At that point, things like the federal prime rate are really what put a damper on housing prices, not Apple employees moving into apartments built on a vacant lot.)

To some extent, everyone is aware of these factors, which is why California said "enough is enough" and moved some control to the state level.