Worth reading: Gideon Kanner, Detroit and the Decline of Urban America, 2013 Mich. St. L. Rev. 1547 (2014), in the forthcoming issue of that august publication. Its not yet available on the law review’s web site, but Professor Kanner has written up a summary on his blog (he might even send you a copy of the complete article if you ask him):
It deals with the causes of decline of older American cities; what caused their populations to leave en masse and move to the suburbs, leaving behind empty swaths of urban desolation (If you want to see how desolate, go to Google, type in “ruins of Detroit” and hit “enter.’ Here are some samples).
His summary includes the key points of the article, and identifies six factors as contributing to urban flight and depopulation, including abuse of the eminent domain power.
The article is a fascinating and enjoyable read, and a crash history lesson for those of us who were only partly around to watch in real time as this all unfolded. Highly recommended.