> So it's ok by you to flatten a neighborhood to make way for a
> Wal-Mart?
Where did that happen? In the absolute majority of cases, cities exercise eminent domain only as a last resort and there is plenty of public hearings. I have been a part of this process in Baltimore for a while and can tell you that it is often citizens who demand the use of eminent domain against blight and slumlords, and it is citify officials who resist, because it usually involves legal fight and bad publicity.
I can also tell that the left wing activistists usually do not attend those meeting - they prefer to create ruckus in the streets when the decisions are finally made through a democratic process, cry foul and disseminate urban legends how the gummint oppresses da people. In fact, I and almost everyone I know stopped taking these clowns seriously long time ago. Last time I've seen one was some moron rock-and-roller representing the Green Party in Baltimore who could not even articulate his thoughts properly, he was just repeating like a broken record "too much development, too much development." What a bunch of clowns! I would sooner vote for my cat before allowing them to have any say in public meetings.
I am not denying that there might be abuses of the process - like very other process, but such abuses can be effectively addressed in courts. They do not need a policy change. If anything, we need more use of eminent domain to shut down slumlords, crackhouses, dives and blight that make the US cities so fucking unlivable comparing to the European cities.
Wojtek