Eminent Domain

It is a big problem that is plauging small and large towns all up and down the shore but of course there are many different spectrums to view it from. On one side, you have to commend town leaders for having a vision to beautify their "domain". On the other, you have these leaders tossing away years of memories some families have put into their home with loved ones.

In towns such as Asbury Park, Neptune, Bradley Beach, Long Branch, Neptune City, and other various localities people are being persuaded to move from their homes. Most of which want to live out the rest of their lives in the so-called "blighted" areas. These people will have pretty much limited options in terms of relocation and perhaps one thing that kept them in that so called "blighted" was the memories made by raising their families in that house. There is a saying, "A house is made of brick and stone, but a home is made of love alone". I find that to be very true and local governments should not be able passively force people out of their homes to make way for more visually appealing residential/commercial areas.

Yet, in the towns' defense you have to side with them many a time. The areas of their respective towns that they want to redevelop are in most cases awful to look at. Old buildings, decrepit houses, dilapidated streets and sidewalks are usually a big part of the equation in the reason to consider using such harsh tactics as "eminent domain" to help revive a likely dying part of the community. Most of these communitiy sites often harbor high crime rates and perhaps the only crime rates in the town. Another reason to consider supporting eminent domain is because the town is not getting all it could in terms of taxes. It basically goes like this, higher priced house=higher taxes. If houses look nicer, streets safer, and crime decreases then more people will want to move into the town. If more people want to move into town then house prices will boom which will raise many aspects of equity and other monetary situations. These higher profits from the taxes can be used to keep a closer eye on town safety and most importantly school and education to insure that the "future" is getting the best edge possible.

So call it what you want. Whether you are in favor of it or not. It is your call,but it certainly has become an epidemic all along the Jersey Shore and it needs to be resolved immediately.