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Movin' On Up: Urbanized TV Landscapes and the Growth of Gentrification

 Steven M. Graves

Department of Geography

California State University, Northridge

 Abstract:

 A number of competing theories seek to uncover the causal variables behind the process of gentrification.  This paper seeks to add to that discourse by expounding on the role of television programming as a catalyst and accelerant for gentrification.  A sample of American television programming from the 1950s to the 1990s is cataloged and the discourses surrounding urban housing is analyzed.  Special attention is given to the period from the late 1960s to middle 1970s when TV families began abandoning their glass and steel modernist high-rises in favor of more fashionable post-modernist gentrified sets.  Included in the discussion are programs such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Jeffersons, Welcome Back Kotter and Mork and Mindy.  A brief discussion of the chronology of gentrification and televised versions of it follows as well as more extended speculation on the impact of this shift in televisual urban landscapes. 

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If you have questions or comments, please contact me at steve.graves@csun.edu