A Pennsylvania Town Fights Eminent Domain

There is a whistle stop town in the Western suburbs of Philadelphia called Ardmore, Pennsylvania. It's a funny little place situated within two townships and literally and figuratively cut in half by a railroad. The North side of the tracks is the ritzy Philadelphia Main Line with the oldest, and one of the highest grossing per square foot ,shopping malls in America. South of the tracks is a very different world. Here is a non-picturesque string of hundred year old Ma & Ma store fronts. It's a struggling area but has character and likes itself.

Awhile back, the local powers-that-be decided that the entire town should be more like the prosperous North Side. So the commissioners learned to apply for federal grants and went to work sprucing up the South Side of Ardmore. They planted trees that never grew an inch and put in lamposts that frequently malfunctioned. They paved cobblestones in front of selected stores but ran out of grant money resulting in a patchwork sidewalk of cement and cobblestone. At best, South Ardmore achieved a questionable shabby chic. This detered nothing, since the town fathers now knew how to apply for, and even get matching funds for, government gentrification money. After landing a big one, they decided to tear down the town's one room train station and build a state-of-the-art Transporatation Center with gallery shops and ramp parking. To have enough land, it would be necessary to demolish a half block of the existing businesses. So, they invoked Eminent Domain.