Remember Kelo v. City of New London?

If not, read Wikipedia, or better yet, read the actual decision.

Done? Lovely. Now read this. The barbs and sarcasm contained in the following excerpt are, of course, entirely justified:

Eventually, something will probably get built on the site. But in the meantime, it will have lain empty for many years, probably at least a decade in all. In addition to the financial and emotional costs imposed on the people who lost their homes, this hiatus ensures that the takings will be a net loss when it comes to promoting development for the city as well. It is actually quite common for economic development takings to end up destroying more development than they create.

Fortunately, the eight year wait was not a total loss. Feral cats have been making use of the land where Susette Kelo’s house once stood. But I suspect that the city could have built an even better home for the feral cats for a lot less than $80 million, and without condemning any private property.