But it is going too far. But is still an area that is sadly misused. Instead of property being taken for a so-called public purpose, it is often a tool of political favoritism where there is a business that says, I'll contribute tax dollars, or it is a business that has a lot of political pull, and it will request a piece of property and the government will say, okay, we will condemn it for you and you can expand over there. That is a frequent problem. Another one is getting rid of unpopular businesses or unpopular residents.
Factories are an example.
There is a situation in New York in which a small factory is facing condemnation just because the town doesn't really like it and claims that it wants to redevelop it as a mall with movie theaters, but really it just doesn't like this particular property and doesn't like the owner. It was been used basically as a tool for redecorating. A town or a city says our downtown could be spiffier. I visited another city and their downtown area and mall looked shinier. The real cost in human life is hidden from the government.