> But there were no neighborhood activists protesting every foot of track, demanding endless environmental impact studies, attending every city council meeting

> But there were no neighborhood activists protesting every foot of track, demanding endless environmental impact studies, attending every city council meeting to complain about the project, etc, etc. People love to get their pitchforks out against eminent domain but I assert without it not a single large public works project would ever get built. No dams, no sewer treatment plants, no water lines, no power lines, no power plants, no trains, no highways, no anything. Without eminent domain, there will always be some holdout somewhere that throws a wrench in things no matter how many truckloads of money you toss at them. To actually build massive public infrastructure, you need a way to force people to cooperate. Without, you'd never get the project off the ground.