This is true. Springfield has been terrible to deal with from a city interface standpoint. They purchased some garbage software, so bad you would hope someone was bribed to buy it. Things used to be a lot easier. You could walk into the building department and walk out with a permit 30 minutes later. Not any more. The permitting process took me 10 days or so last time.

Regarding the hostility towards developers - why would anyone want to live on the corner of sunshine and national? What kind of fool would let their child play in the front yard there? What is it 80k cars daily combined on those 2 roads? Not exactly the spot where someone is going to chose to live.

Op, expect continued hostility. This is a place where non liberal dissent is downvoted until it disappears.

As Springfield's development will continue to stall, others will certainly look elsewhere FIRST and not to Springfield. This trend has been in place for 5-10 years already..