There goes the neighborhood

Down by the old Mill Valley, they're steamed;

The soaring prices are being fueled by young entrepreneurs who are paying exorbitant prices for older, often run-down homes. The nabobs of tech are then tearing the houses down and building in their place sprawling mansions worth multiple millions of dollars.

"It's busy, and it's getting more busy," said Mill Valley Mayor Stephanie Moulton-Peters. "People are making life changes as the economy picks up."

Those darned nouveau riche;

Now comes the tech boom, which - unlike in San Francisco, where people are concerned about gentrification - is threatening to widen the gap in Mill Valley not between the haves and the have-nots, but between the rich and the middle class.

The last vestiges of Mill Valley's far-out, hedonistic past are fading fast as the big shots are waltzing into town.

Gone are the local personalities like the man who transformed his house into the Unknown Museum and the guy who made guitars out of toilet seats.Institutions like the Village Music record store and the Pleasure Principle - a strange, kaleidoscopic collection of jewelry, pot accessories and X-rated movies - have closed down. The famed Sweetwater Music Hall has moved and gone upscale chic. 

Thomas Piketty could not be reached for comment.