Have to agree Bob, and in addition the condemnation process (and, actually, many of the other things you mention if the objective is not just mass terror) is very discriminatory: it only goes after the property that's needed. I worked on several projects where people wanted us to buy their whole property, not just the sliver needed - seeing the govt project as a way to make money off a property that otherwise wasn't worth much at the time. I don't remember most of them getting that if the property was still usable after the needed part was taken - spending more than necessary would not have been a good use of public funds.