Somewhere in between the thread on Jesse Jackson's remarks on urban farming, the thread in which we started talking about abandoned blocks [[yet again), and just general DY background noise, I started to wonder what would happen if someone just started gardening on an abandoned lot. They have a reasonable chance of just flying under the radar for a while. Do they just own it at some point?

It is extraordinarily difficult for a MI municipality to exercise eminent domain, IIRC. If there is something to this idea, it could open up avenues for the re-beautification of some dilapidated areas.

Look, I'm not actually advocating theft. But - and cut me some slack, I'm no lawyer - there does seem to be a certain amount of "constructive abandonment." If I toss a twenty, is it theft for you to pick it up?