More than two years ago, Kristen Short Bennett, SR/WA and Dave Arnold, Esq., SR/WA created a podcast dedicated to right of way acquisition, eminent domain, the Uniform Relocation Act and infrastructure development. Their goal was to provide a resource that was educational, informative, and entertaining for right of way professionals. In August of 2020, they launched The Pendulum Land Podcast.
About a year later, The Pendulum Land Podcast was rebranded as “Infrastructure Junkies!” As they continued to refine and evolve the Infrastructure Junkies! podcast, Kristen and Dave recognized that their podcast was a great starting point to create a broader platform to better serve the right of way / eminent domain / uniform relocation act community. While the podcast was a great resource for the industry, they wanted to provide a broader and better foundation in order to provide more resources and a better voice for this community of professionals.
Welcome to the Infrastructure Junkies website. We are glad that you are here.
From Renowned Author Howard Mansfield:
“This is probably not a podcast you’d stumble upon. It’s about, and by, the professionals who make eminent domain happen – the lawyers, and relocation specialists in what they call ‘the right of way industry.’ When people are fighting an impending pipeline or powerline, these folks can easily be cast as the villains.
But the podcast by two lively hosts, Dave Arnold and Kristen Short Bennett, shows the truer, more complex picture. They believe in building new roads and pipelines. They believe that ‘one of the things that makes this nation such a wonderful place to live is our fabulous infrastructure system. We have reliable electricity, we have running water … safe and reliable airlines, and rails, and we have roads to take us anywhere we want to go,’ as co-host Arnold says. But they also know that to have your home taken by the state, no matter how good the intentions, can be a wrenching and emotional loss. ‘What we as right of way professionals do not always realize, however, is that every single project comes with a hidden price to humanity,’ says Arnold. In some episodes lawyers on both sides of taking a property, debate, contesting the entire process and the vague, but all important phrase ‘just compensation.'”