"There are a lot of shenanigans going on to hyper-gentrify this area, almost make it a beachfront resort," said Laddie Williams, a third-generation Venice resident. "They are killing our community."

As skyrocketing real estate prices push long-time residents out of this seaside district of Los Angeles, corporate chains are replacing funky shops, and tech geeks are emerging as a dominant part of the scene. Meanwhile, the area's already robust homeless population is rising, leading to controversial police crackdowns.

Similar trends are transforming much of coastal California. But in bohemian Venice, the shake-up has been particularly upsetting, especially since the arrival of Snapchat, the internet messaging giant that has set up its office in the neighbourhood.

Snapchat's presence has swollen from 14 employees to 200 in two years, expanding this spring into office build-ings throughout the densely populated hamlet. One building near the beach spans an entire block.

Among the dozens of tenants displaced by Snapchat was the Teen Project, a non-profit organisation that provides housing to young homeless adults.

"They shoved us right out and treated us like red-headed stepchildren," said Teen Project founder Lauri Burns.

Many Venetians are feeling swamped by the tidal wave of new money. And the local tech boom, known around town as "Silicon Beach", is just one source of it.

The main thoroughfare in Venice, Abbot Kinney Boulevard, has been transformed from a funky line-up of artisan shops to a ritzy outdoor mall of upscale corporate brands.

Last month, a piece of commercial property on the boulevard sold for US$44 million to a New York partnership, forcing the ejection of Hal's, a land-mark bar and grill. The same property sold for US$20 million two years ago.

"Pretty good flip," said Carol Landau, owner of a hand-crafted jewellery store that was priced out of its home of 30 years by the earlier sale.

Residential bungalows are also being emptied and flipped to high-flying investors, many from overseas. In five years, the median home price has surged from US$832,000 to US$1.4 million.

Tony Bill, a wealthy producer who shared an Academy Award in 1973 for , wonders why anyone is surprised that beachfront property in one of the nation's largest cities would experience such growth.

"It's like, what did you expect? How long did you expect that Venice would be a depressed, inexpensive, inactive haven for people who can't find a cheaper place to live?" said Bill, who owns one of the buildings that houses Snapchat.

George Francisco, vice-president of the Venice Chamber of Commerce, said growing pains are to be expected.

"I think of it as a continuum," he said. "There were people who provided services for horses. Then the automobile came along. Progress is a train. You can be on it, or you can be under it."

But the sudden influx of wealth over the past two years has been more akin to a steamroller, long-timers insist.

"Gentrification right now is on steroids," said Todd Darling, a member of the Venice Land Use and Planning Committee, who argues the district is essentially becoming a bank for investors from all over the world.

"People like to say the investors are Asian, but they could be from New York or Berlin," he said. "In any case, it's people who are not interested in living here.

"They are interested in an asset that holds value. That happens to be in Venice Beach, California, and it may just happen to cause the eviction of people who have lived there a long time."