Houses Taken Away and Given to Crate & Barrel
Before you read any further, look at the houses here. Here is an example:
They look like normal, everyday Midwestern houses, right? I mean, some are kind of small but several look pretty nice and all of them are in good shape with well-kept lawns, etc.
So what do these houses have in common? They have all been condemned as "blighted" by Norwood, Ohio. They have been seized from their owners by the city government and now, thanks to the Supreme Court's disastrous Kelo decision, they will be torn down.
OK, what's the real reason? The real reason is that Norwood, Ohio wants a Crate & Barrel store where these houses are. They think the Crate & Barrel is a better use of the land, and they are pretty sure that C&B will pay them more taxes than these homeowners, so they are taking people's homes and giving the land to the developer. More here and here on this story, and Cato has a whole bunch of articles on abuse of the Constitution's takings clause here. And you can find my Kelo articles here, here, and here.
