Silicon Beach and the Perils of Gentrification

For a long time, people in Silicon Valley would fly to LA when they had to. Then it occurred to them that people who work in technology and content could actually live in the same place. Now, Google has come to Venice, greeted warmly by the Chamber of Commerce, but regarded by some long-time residents as an unwelcome invader. We look at the changing nature of that formerly funky community with 300 new high-tech companies altogether. But that only accounts for half of the new, mainly Westside, phenomenon called Silicon Beach. (Parts Two and Three of KCRW's series on Silicon Beach will run on All Things Considered tomorrow on Friday.  You can hear them all at KCRW.com/siliconbeach.)

In addition to our guests, we also hear the voices of Jonathan Gold, food critic for LA Times and KCRW's Good Food; Marissa Gluck, tech consultant for Radar Research and Oscar Hermosillo, owner of Venice Beach Wines and Oscar's Cerveteca on Rose Avenue.