Adam Williamson wrote:
A poll like this would have an inherent problem: it's ineffective to have *only* the people who are already in a place vote on whether a measure to get new people into the place is a good idea.
Yet this approach is working fine for, e.g., Debian.
This is the same as the NIMBY problem in municipal politics: if you give the residents of any area too much say over development in that area, they will always tend to oppose it on the grounds that it's bad for *them*. They have no inherent motivation to consider the interests of other people who might want to live or work in the area, but who cannot.
But the local residents are often precious allies in fighting things such as new highways, construction projects destroying fertile soil, etc. that make things worse for everyone by: accelerating the climate crisis, causing pollution, eating up soil needed for agriculture, etc. So guess what, I often find myself supporting this kind of local initiatives from the other end of the city. Would you be happy if your city builds a huge highway right through your previously quiet neighborhood? Would you find that fair?
Kevin Kofler