Page:United States Reports, Volume 545.djvu/539



Opinion of the Court our precedent. “When the legislature’s purpose is legitimate and its means are not irrational, our cases make clear that empirical debates over the wisdom of takings—no less than debates over the wisdom of other kinds of socioeconomic legislation—are not to be carried out in the federal courts.” Midkiff,. Indeed, earlier this Term we explained why similar practical concerns (among others) undermined the use of the “substantially advances” formula in our regulatory takings doctrine. See Lingle v. Chevron U. S. A. Inc.,, (2005) (noting that this formula “would empower—and might often require—courts to substitute their predictive judgments for those of elected legislatures and expert agencies”). The disadvantages of a heightened form of review are especially pronounced in this type of case. Orderly implementation of a comprehensive redevelopment plan obviously requires that the legal rights of all interested parties be established before new construction can be commenced. A constitutional rule that required postponement of the judicial approval of every condemnation until the likelihood of success of the plan had been assured would unquestionably impose a signiﬁcant impediment to the successful consummation of many such plans.

Just as we decline to second guess the City’s considered judgments about the efﬁcacy of its development plan, we also decline to second guess the City’s determinations as to what