The problem is that money can't solve some problems. Private rights are more important than public values. It's actually a very cutthroat competitive, evolutionary world view which implies that government should not mediate the way of survival of the fittest, but government should rather just be one of the competitors. Planning runs against these key cultural values. But ironically every project requires planning to succeed.
Planning does happen.
You therefore know the real issue comes down to timing, who controls the planning and who wins and what loses as a result. In theory, the upcoming updates to the CIty and County General Plans could provide a fabulous forum for the future. In practice, there is hardly a system that human beings cannot manage to manipulate or corrupt for individual interests at the expense of the whole. So you have to design systems with checks and balances. And you have to create a culture of fair people to serve in them.