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Has anyone done this before? If so, what is it like (whether you're straight or LGBT)? Personally, I have never lived in one, and I'm gay myself. Apparently, some straight people have lived in such neighborhoods as well.
If you haven't lived in an LGBT section of a city/town, would you be willing (or opposed, or indifferent) to live in one?
Gayborhoods are kinda thing of the past these days in most metros. First, there's no reason for gays to live segregated any longer. Secondly, gay neighborhoods invariably became highly desirable and gentrified, so that they became too expensive for young gays to move into, hence becoming rich urban enclaves with some middle-aged to old gay men.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Been there, done that, wouldn't do it again. I lived in Capital Hill in Seattle at ages 22-27. It was fun, there were some annoying aspects too. I was single the whole time I was there. Not my ideal situation to find a ideal partner, but that's just my own experience. I moved back to the Boston suburbs for some years and met my man, then we moved out here. Would I live in New Mexico if I was single? Hell no. But now that I'm in my mid 30's I can't see myself going back to a gayborhood again either. I think many of these neighborhoods have been through a lot of transitions of gentrification and it wouldn't be the same experience as it was 10-15 years ago.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 02-24-2015 at 08:11 PM..
I've lived in lower Manhattan which is pretty gay although the two epicenters are Christopher street in the village and 8th avenue in the 20s (between 20th and 30th street). In most cities these days gay villages are mostly inhabited by older gay men who got in when it was cheap 30 years ago along with heterosexual rich yuppies. Same thing in Frisco. Most gay villages are probably majority straight yuppies at this point as the old gays die or retire in Florida and the rent control expires and the rent increases tenfold. It's mostly just gay nightlife districts at this point.
I'm straight btw, but Ive dabbled in my younger years.
I've read your other posts...how old are you? You sound like you have not experienced any of the world except for reading about it on wikipedia
Lived in Hillcrest, San Diego for nearly a decade right after college and it was definitely fun for what it was during what was probably its Gayborhood apex, and coming from a rural mountain town and then a small college town way upstate the feeling was pretty liberating as cliche as that might sound.
But since I had already met my significant other during Spring Break a year and a half earlier and we were settling in with eachother the significance of living amongst it all faded pretty quickly as we more concentrated on careers and friends. Now, 28 years later (still together) Hillcrest, while still having its "gay" reputation is just another uptown neighborhood with a very mixed demographic similar to most of the other ones nearby, and we just happen to live in one of those. Nobody cares about that anymore, almost all of our friends are straight couples or straight singles with more than a few gays mixed in. Everyone is just dispersed all over the place now.
If I were investing in a neighborhood in some other city I would definitely target a neighborhood ripe for gentrification that just started to have Gays moving in. Because when the Gays come in things are going to start improving fast.
It was just like us choosing for our first (and hopefully last) house, this neighborhood 18 years ago when it seemed on the edge of either going downhill or improving. Our neighbors from 25 to 75 all sensed it when we moved in and welcomed us heartily, seeing us immediately getting to work on our historic house and garden. And I'd like to think we were just a tiny part of the neighborhood's monumental rise to one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city (and too expensive for us to buy our own house anymore).
I live in one in Chicago, it's probably one of the most popular neighborhoods to live in for 20 somethings regardless of if you're straight or gay.
Of course it's only a block away from Wrigleyville as well, which is a huge magnet for 20 something transplants.
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