Up here in New England, they support towns buying up old farms for "open spaces" under the guise that the cost to buy the open scace is less than what the town would spend to increase the public infrastructure to accomodate incremental residents if the land was subdivided. So the current resident taxes go through the roof, instead of increasing tax roles on the potential build-out. Check the math, it doesn't make an ounce of sense.
Then our town spent a $million to build a gazebo on top of a polluted small pond, next to town hall, for "beautification".
I'm still trying to figure out the cost per duck!