A close family member is an urban planner, and he blames a succession of legal challenges that have forced public entities to account for all sorts of value tha

A close family member is an urban planner, and he blames a succession of legal challenges that have forced public entities to account for all sorts of value that the property could never actually attain. And, of course, the increase in number and density of holdouts has driven acquisition costs way, way up for large public projects, since time delays incur costs. Lawyers have learned that, even if the city/state makes a good offer, they can get a better one by grinding through the process slowly. Eminent domain is a powerful (and easily abused) idea, but it's devilishly hard to strike the right balance between property owners' rights and the common good. At least on the West Coast, the scales seem to have tipped in favor of property owners.