Skip to Content
Los Angeles

“The Displacement Engine” – Photoessay on Gentrification

10:09 AM PDT on June 5, 2017

5 years ago my first post on L.A. Taco was a short photoessay on how gentrification was changing the city of Los Angeles. In the time since the pace of redevelopment has gone into overdrive, almost completely remaking parts of the city in an incredibly short amount of time. The essay and selected pictures below are from my ongoing documentary project, the entire photoessay can be viewed at The Los Angeles Recordings. 

Gentrification is a weapon.



It’s the ultimate expression of manifest destiny applied to spaces determined to be of value. In addition to being forced to live in the most undesirable parts of a given city, poor communities of color are systematically forced out of the neighborhoods they have cultivated. Entire cultures can be considered transient when viewed over a long enough period of time, forced to migrate by factors such as institutionalized discrimination and economic inequality. The cumulative effect is a cylindrical cycle of profit and redevelopment which use the poor as a source for economic growth while preventing them from deriving any benefit.

The effort to push vulnerable populations to the margins may seem to be organic but is often an organized campaign. Perpetual, neighborhood wide rent increases coupled with a total and sustained lack of local infrastructure (grocery stores, good public schools, etc…) are the ingredients needed to initiate the desired effect. The primary objective is to subtly, but forcefully encourage the current populace to vacate the immediate vicinity, making room for the more affluent renters. Often, the cultural currency of the neighborhood is used as a selling point to attract more upscale residents. This is a particularly frustrating irony because they are moving to an area built and made desirable by those they are replacing.

The impulse is rooted in the great American tradition of colonialism, the desire to come across a place where people already live and declare it uninhabited (and thus ripe for development). In reality the vast majority of wealth (particularly the acquisition of property) was accumulated either during the age of slavery, in the era of Jim Crow, or as a result of unevenly distributed government benefits such as the post WWII G.I. Bill. To this day the legacy of this effort is used to demonize the poor, powering the perpetual Displacement Engine that systematically dismantles any sense of permanence for entire communities.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

L.A. Spent Over $1.73 Million on These Controversial ‘Anti-Homeless’ Signs. Do They Actually Work?

Earlier this month, a leaked memo from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) suggested that these 41.18 zones rarely led to unhoused people being moved into interim shelter or permanent housing. After being cleared, most 41.18 zones quickly became repopulated.

March 27, 2024

Two New Lowrider-Inspired and Dodger-Blue L.A. TACO Hats Are Now Available!

Wear your L.A. TACO swag and support our inclusive, street-level community journalism!

March 27, 2024

A Morning-Only Taco Pop-Up in Northridge Is Making the Biggest Breakfast Burritos in the San Fernando Valley

What does it take to stand out in Los Angeles's saturated taco climate? Focus on San Fernando Valley-style loaded breakfast tacos, "breakfast quesadillas" with crispy cheese skirts, and the beefiest breakfast burritos Balboa Boulevard has ever seen.

March 26, 2024

The Second Round of TACO MADNESS 2024 Is Now Open for Voting! Meet ‘L.A.’s Sweet 16’ That Advanced

Save the date! Our 15th annual taco tournament is taking place on April 13th at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes near Olvera Street. Pre-sale tickets are now available. Our online tournament starts on Monday. Check out this year's contenders!

March 26, 2024

Meet L.A.’s Queen of Carnitas Succeeding In a Male-Dominated Taco Style

Her Michoacán-style carnitas are so tender, crispy, and sticky, that she's known to sell more than 1,200 pounds on Sundays alone. What sets her apart from other carnitas stars in L.A. is her commitment to making handmade corn tortillas, too. Her story of resilience is the stuff of taquera legends.

March 25, 2024
See all posts