Zoning abuse is still at the periphery of the public conscious but as it get more exploitative and more brazen and people start realizing that a small set of property owners are capturing entire municipalities through zoning I suspect this will start to make main stream headlines regularly.

One activist's zoning abuse is a homeowner's "preserving the character and value of the largest investment in their life". Many people have chose to buy in single family zoned neighborhoods, neighborhoods with HOAs, communities that enforce anti-vagrancy statutes, etc.

As I said up-thread, a lot of people view these restrictions as a good thing for them and their community. The homeownership rate is 65%. The individual homeownership rate is 53% - it's not a small set of property owners capturing the entire municipality, but rather a literal majority of the population benefiting, and likely a majority of the population approving (- some liberal/anti-regulation homeowners, + people who prefer zoned communities even if they rent/don't own).