Big Money Floods Venice Beach

Is a gentrified Venice Beach still Venice Beach? With median home prices topping $1.4 million, the area's eclectic characters can't afford to stay. Investors and the tech industry say the change is only natural.

1 minute read

August 28, 2015, 9:00 AM PDT

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc


Abbot Kinney

Michael Dorausch / Flickr

Venice Beach is on the path to becoming something very different. Some are now calling the area Silicon Beach. "As skyrocketing real estate prices push longtime residents out of this oceanside district of Los Angeles, corporate chains are replacing funky shops, and tech geeks are emerging as a dominant part of the scene."

Google and Snapchat stand out among a throng of start-ups and plentiful investment by moneyed interests. Median home prices are up from $832,000 to $1.4 million in the past five years alone. Abbot Kinney Boulevard, formerly a space for bohemian shops and eateries, has gone full yuppie. "In a stunner last month, a piece of commercial property on the boulevard sold for $44 million to a New York partnership [...] Jaws had also dropped when the same property sold for $20 million two years ago."

Venice's breakneck gentrification is pushing out the artists and musicians who defined the area for so many years. Some commentators call it natural, prime beachfront property finally coming into the value it should have had all along. Venice is now the top Airbnb spot in L.A.

If that's the case, the area's hippies and avant-garde artists will need to find somewhere else to call home. Or as one resident put it, "A lot of other people, they just disappear, dude."

Monday, August 10, 2015 in The Washington Post

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 11, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Metrorail train pulling into newly opened subterranean station in Washington, D.C. with crowd on platform taking photos.

Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename DC Metro “Trump Train”

The Make Autorail Great Again Act would withhold federal funding to the system until the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), rebrands as the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA).

June 2, 2025 - The Hill

Large crowd on street in San Francisco, California during Oktoberfest festival.

The Simple Legislative Tool Transforming Vacant Downtowns

In California, Michigan and Georgia, an easy win is bringing dollars — and delight — back to city centers.

June 2, 2025 - Robbie Silver

Color-coded map of labor & delivery departments and losses in United States.

The States Losing Rural Delivery Rooms at an Alarming Pace

In some states, as few as 9% of rural hospitals still deliver babies. As a result, rising pre-term births, no adequate pre-term care and "harrowing" close calls are a growing reality.

June 15 - Maine Morning Star

Street scene in Kathmandu, Nepal with yellow minibuses and other traffic.

The Small South Asian Republic Going all in on EVs

Thanks to one simple policy change less than five years ago, 65% of new cars in this Himalayan country are now electric.

June 15 - Fast Company

Bike lane in Washington D.C. protected by low concrete barriers.

DC Backpedals on Bike Lane Protection, Swaps Barriers for Paint

Citing aesthetic concerns, the city is removing the concrete barriers and flexposts that once separated Arizona Avenue cyclists from motor vehicles.

June 15 - The Washington Post