Presumably if they went above and beyond normal local zoning restrictions with a historic district they care more than your average American.
And presumably if you could make a bunch of Americans magically consider massive redevelopment on that scale, it would be more fruitful to do it in a place closer in where you don't have to spend billions of dollars on transportation infrastructure, or the other billions of dollars establishing services like water supply, a grid with adequate capacity, schools, fire, police, medical services, etc. Sidewalk Labs wanted to be in the middle of the action on the Toronto waterfront, not in the undeveloped boonies.
And presumably if you could make a bunch of Americans magically consider massive redevelopment on that scale, it would be more fruitful to do it in a place closer in where you don't have to spend billions of dollars on transportation infrastructure, or the other billions of dollars establishing services like water supply, a grid with adequate capacity, schools, fire, police, medical services, etc. Sidewalk Labs wanted to be in the middle of the action on the Toronto waterfront, not in the undeveloped boonies.