>In particular, is there disagreement with respect to the Supreme Court
>ruling in Kelo which upheld the right of expropriation and which sparked
>this discussion?
I have to confess that whenever I hear the words "Supreme Court" I want to take a nap. But my position on the politics of this is that the right is polemicizing and organizing over a real problem. And that by siding unequivocally with the SC <yawn>, the liberal left is (once again) ceding the ground of real grievances to the right, and allowing itself to be cast as out-of-touch elitists. And by tying it to "urban planning," the liberal left is making things worse.
This reminds me of the rezoning/redevelopment of the Williamsburg and Greenpoint sections of Brooklyn. People in the neighborhoods have put together a popular plan for modernizing the area. But the city planning authorities will have none of it: they want waterfront highrises and gentrification. And if anyone stands in their way, well there's always eminent domain. That's how urban planning is really practiced in the US.
Doug