Gentrification arrives with promises of revitalization but has also developed from a history of discriminatory laws and practices in the United States. City Rising illuminates this history and reveals how gentrification is traditionally molded and dictated by those in power.

Cities have been entrepreneurial about encouraging development, while regarding displacement as inevitable. Fast-rising home values have made property ownership more elusive than ever for those historically excluded. As housing prices rise, people of color who cherish their community and culture are mobilizing against unsustainable rents and other forces they see pushing neighbors into homelessness. Fearing the loss of their basic needs, these residents are part of a movement, not just in California, but across the nation as the rights to property, home, community and the city are consuming local and global debates.

Coming in September on KCET and Link TV, City Rising is a one-hour broadcast special and multi-media project that analyzes six California communities undergoing gentrification: Boyle Heights and South Central in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Oakland and the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento.

About City Rising | Screen the Film