Who runs the city?

An article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Monday August 21, 2006 was listed as- Hot Property - Bloomington Central Station. It quotes the McGough project manager as saying: " will change how Minnesotans live, work, connect and play in the 21st century" It is for condominiums, office and retail for the $700 million project.
Why does it seem like in the over 20 years that I have lived in the city developers seem to run Bloomington. In the NW quadrant we have been fighting development since probably the mid 80's. Sometimes it seems being a voter does not matter. Do the people run the city or the developers?