What really irks me with that particular sentiment (the land is historic/already in use) is how the federal highway system absolutely decimated communities of c

What really irks me with that particular sentiment (the land is historic/already in use) is how the federal highway system absolutely decimated communities of color in a lot of major cities. They'd put a highway right through where the black folk live, and who cares? Well, all the people in that neighborhood care, but they're poor minorities--they have no political power, no ability to push back. If you want to start talking about land being taken from people, don't fucking start with farmers in rural California and HSR, start with the inner city neighborhoods the highway system destroyed.