On the northern edge of the University of Southern California campus is the University Village shopping center, which houses various shops and restaurants, some of which owned by members of the local community. The mall is home to Superior Grocers, a food court, Denny's, Starbucks and many other retail stores. There is also a considerable number of vacant shops (Gordon 2010). The nearly 30-year-old University Village, as well as USC's current student housing facilities, Cardinal Gardens and Century Apartments, will be demolished and rebuilt as "USC Village" as part of USC's new retail and student housing project 900 million dollars. The new USC Village “will include up to 350,000 square feet of community-serving retail, new student housing and academic spaces, and increase the quality of life for students and the community” (USC Village 2014). The University boasts the creation of 12,000 new jobs and an increase in the amount of academic space as part of the project. As of April 2014, USC is in the demolition phase of the plan; the entire project is not expected to be completed until around 2030. This giant project is important because there are fears that the new USC Village will displace local community members, many of whom are Hispanic, low-income families, and increase housing prices. in the area, making it inaccessible for local residents (Saillant 2012). This would contribute to the idea that USC is slowly gentrifying the surrounding neighborhood, which would force less affluent local residents out of their homes to less desirable neighborhoods, while attracting relatively affluent college students. Two competing theories describing the structure of power: power elites and veto groups - can be used al...... middle of paper ......and. 2012. “Los Angeles Committee Suspends Redevelopment of $1.1 Billion Land Near USC.” Los Angeles Times, August 22, (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/22/local/la-me-usc-development-20120822). “United States: USC Project Village is Ready to START.” 2013. MENA Report (http://search.proquest.com/docview/1322103065?accountid=14749). USC Village. 2014. “Overview: Creating a Vibrant New Center for Our Community.” Website. (https://village.usc.edu/information/overview/) Wigintton, Jeffrey S. 2013. “Urban University Campus Expansion Projects in the 21st Century: A Case Study of the “Village at USC” Project University of Southern California and its potential economic and social impacts on the local community to provide a model for future expansion projects." University of Southern California, Ann Arbor (http://search.proquest.com/docview/1459423627?accountid=14749).