I knew what eminent domain is, but I didn’t know what cities are using it for now.  How many made for TV, comedies, and kids movies have there been where the  hero/heroine has to stop the evil developers from moving in and destroying the quaint hometown/small mom-and-pop store/diner/wildlife preserve?  There were probably more than a dozen episodes of Scooby Do that used this theme.  Who knew instead of dressing up like a ghost, they could have gotten Old Man Parker to move out just by appealing to the corruptibility of city officials?  Who needs local flavor when you can have clonetown and lots of tax dollars?

These cities are the new Sheriffs of Nottingham:  steal from the little guy to give to the development conglomerate.