[muhfuhkuh]

Eminent Domain displaces people in the US all the time. When a developer wants a pretty lake by the highway to build a condo complex, guess where the trailer park that was next to the lake goes?

Kelo v. City of New London for just one example.

[btmorex]

Well, there's huge differences in the scale of eminent domain projects. A new rail line is likely to affect a huge area with a whole lot of people, many of whom vote. You have to get politicians on board representing many different areas of the state. How do you convince the guy who represents a district that is just "passed through"? It's a pure negative for his constituents.

Not saying it can't be done, but it's a whole lot harder than building a shopping mall, that displaces a handful of houses.

[natrius]

Kelo-style eminent domain is uncommon. The idea is that the land is taken for the benefit of the public, and usually that benefit is direct, like a new highway. In Kelo, the public benefit was the jobs and tax revenue from new private development, which is why it went to the Supreme Court.

[splat]

How do you define uncommon? Here are just a few cases of Kelo-style eminent domain:

http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/current/2010/04/11/from-the-e...

http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/13/private-developers-hav...

http://boortz.com/nuze/alabaster.html

http://www.castlecoalition.org/index.php?option=com_content&...

http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view...

http://reason.com/archives/2003/02/01/wrecking-property-righ...