LIVity

I am outraged. I just read an article in The Washington Post's Express about the planned baseball stadium in Southeast, D.C. Out of the 23 families that were asked to move, 16 stood their ground and refused to leave their homes. Now D.C.'s government filed court papers to seize the property from these 16 families. The other seven agreed to leave their homes and are now splitting an alleged $13 million. What's that, a little over $1.5 million per household. How many times will the average person receive an offer like that during a lifetime?? The sad part is, $13 million is peanuts compared to what this deal is worth. I commend those 16 families for standing their ground. This would never happen in an affluent area like, let's use Montgomery County for example. There is so much land up there (I gurantee 23 families wouldn't be displaced; maybe 5 at most) but all the huge sporting events *hintNascarhint* and stadiums are brought to poorer neighborhoods. And people keep saying if you stand up for your rights, things like this won't happen. You see what happened with these 16 families?? They're being forced out of their homes. The only thing that can save them is if a judge declares that the seizure is unconstitutional. How many people believe that will happen?? I guess that leaves me wondering what these families will receive as compensation. Maybe baseball tickets. How many families from Southeast do you think watch baseball?? Which brings me to another point. Why not put the stadium in the neighborhoods of the people who enjoy it?? But then again, I guess it makes more sense to transport baseball fans all the way across the city and congest four-car trains that are already crowded with residents from "the wrong side of town" who I suppose don't speak up and demand longer trains, more often and especially during times when non-residents are infiltrating their neighborhoods to watch a game they have no interest in. I can understand urban redevelopment but there's got to be a better way.