Jul 02 2008
Portland Tops Best Gay Ghetto List for 2008
GayRealEstate.com has released its top Gay Ghetto Awards for 2008. Portland Oregon and Atlanta Georgia tied for the top spot. Read on for the whole list.
1. Portland Oregon
1. Atlanta Georgia
3. Charlotte North Carolina
4. Raleigh North Carolina
4. Tampa/St. Petersburg Florida
6. Dallas Texas
6. Short Hills New Jersey
8. Chicago Illinois
8. Palm Springs California
8. Austin Texas
GLBT towns, cities, villages, ghettos, enclaves, districts, quarters, and neighborhoods are referred to with various descriptive words. But they all represent blossoming pride, celebration, and reliable real estate value.
Each year we choose our Gay Ghetto Top 10 by cross-analyzing demographics against real estate sales data to discover those especially prized metropolitan areas throughout the USA that are most in vogue with the diverse GLBT community. When the number crunching is over, we usually have 10 distinct winners, individually ranked by virtue of their popularity. But for 2008 we have some unique and special surprises – including three 2-way ties and a 3-way tie. Our top 10 are so outstanding, in other words, that they rate higher than ever.
Here are our selections:
#1
Atlanta, GA & Portland, OR (2-Way Tie)
Portland Oregon
The “Rose City” boasts a thriving arts scene that ranks among America’s best; and its Hawthorne District is home to one of the most concentrated lesbian communities on the continent. Portland’s Burnside Triangle is a triangular district that underwent a complete renaissance and is now thoroughly established as a GLBT enclave stretching over several energetic city blocks. The influence of Burnside spreads into nearby neighborhoods including the Pearl District (a former industrial section of old Portland that now booms with art and commerce) and the rather upscale and upbeat Northwest neighborhood. Earlier this year, Portland became the largest US City to elect an openly gay mayor, Sam Adams.
Atlanta
“Peach City” reigns as the South’s GLBT capital and continues to attract record numbers of GLBT newcomers each year. Combine Southern charm and hospitality with the exciting urban sophistication and thriving economic base of a world-class cosmopolitan city and you get the unique Hot ‘Lanta cocktail. The midtown hosts a well-established gay enclave, but at least half a dozen other districts are up-and-coming GLBT ghetto centers. Go To Q-Atlanta.com
#3
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte
Charlotte is one of the largest banking centers in the world, and is second only to NYC in that respect. But the “Queen City” also benefits from a powerfully funded arts community and offers wonderful museums, entertainment venues, and an eclectic mix of 19th century neighborhoods and sleek urban downtown architecture. Neighborhoods like South End and NODA (North Davidson Street) enjoy a thriving GLBT presence and the city has other desirable and affordable enclaves including tree-lined Windsor Park.
#4
Raleigh, NC & Tampa/St. Pete Metro Area, FL (2-Way Tie)
Raleigh
Raleigh is North Carolina’s capital city and occupies one section of the Piedmont region’s Research Triangle. It benefits from an expanding arts and entertainment scene and an overabundance of renowned universities and high-tech industries. Raleigh is also fast becoming a capital city for GLBT communities. Housing is affordable; upside economic and population growth potential is strong, and it is centrally located between the pristine Outer Banks coastal region and the wildly popular Blue Ridge Mountains.
Tampa/St. Pete Metro
If 300 days of sunshine each year along some 40 miles of beachfront appeal to you, that might explain why Tampa and St. Pete have experienced a steady influx of like-minded GLBT residents and business owners during the past decade. Downtown’s Central Avenue underwent a complete revitalization and the city hosts Florida’s biggest GLBT festival. Art enthusiasts appreciate the fact that while this metro area is a great place to buy a permanent or vacation home for equity appreciation; it also serves as the proud home to the most extensive collection of Salvador Dali paintings outside of Spain.
#6
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX & Short Hills/Metuchen/Surrounding, NJ (2-Way Tie)
Dallas/Fort Worth
Dallas has a relatively young population, a steady economy, a low cost of living, and one of the biggest commercial fashion and furniture districts in the USA. The “Big D” is also big in terms of GLBT communities that can be found throughout the sprawling city with a high concentration along Greenville Ave., Cedar Springs Road, and Oak Lawn Avenue. The Dallas gay Mecca converges in the gorgeous historic Turtle Creek area – home to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Dallas Theater Center. Neighboring Fort Worth is a smaller city with big city GLBT amenities including its own gay film festival and rodeo.
Short Hills/Metuchen/Surrounding Areas
Natural and historical beauty, vibrant downtown venues that retain quaint charms but exceptionally innovative restaurants and shops, the nationally recognized Paper Mill Playhouse, a first-class school system, and easy commutes into the Big Apple all conspire to make this area a uniquely awesome place to live. These valuable features have not been lost on the GLBT community that thrives in this Victorian-era central New Jersey enclave of restored antique homes and outstanding real estate investment opportunities.
#8
Palm Springs, CA & Chicago Metro Area, IL & Austin, TX (3-Way Tie)
Austin
Austin has a long reputation for gay-friendliness, and what was long ago a large gay underground is now a tremendously creative GLBT synergy that permeates the whole city in full view of everyone. Austin is the state capital, an important academic center, and the music industry’s newest crown jewel. Plus the city has a high-tech industry presence only rivaled by Silicon Valley. Austin offers a wide range of GLBT enclaves that are literally all over the map, and Texas is famous for low taxes and high growth.
Chicago
“Chi-town” surprises many newcomers who do not expect so much abundant and accessible green space – including many miles of public lakefront parks – in such a large American city. Better-known assets include the entire range of big city perks and activities – from major sports teams and museums to world famous restaurants and a sizzling music scene. The local GLBT celebration attracts half a million people for its annual parade, and scores of them stay each year to become fulltime residents of the numerous architecture-rich neighborhoods found in the wonderful Windy City. Go To Q-Chicago.com
Palm Springs
Ideally situated two hours from Los Angeles and San Diego, Palm Springs combines sunny days, breathtaking mountain views, exotic nightlife, an historic downtown village, and an array of galleries, gardens, museums, shops, and restaurants. These days it also offers rare affordability, as California’s housing prices have fallen from their high perch to become much more accessible. In 2008 the town offers rare opportunities for upward equity appreciation. Plus same-sex marriage is now legal. No wonder Palm Springs has emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast-growing GLBT destinations in the USA.
Trace the social migration of America’s GLBT population through history. What emerges is a virtual blueprint for success in terms of smart growth, savvy investment, vibrant arts and culture, robust economics, low crime, high property value, superior schools, and model communities.
Pick your “Gayborhood” and rest assured that the future is bright for a diversified return on investment highlighted by synergistic appreciation of assets that are both tangible and intangible.
Post Topics: Gay Ghetto, Gay Neighborhoods, Gay US Cities, Lesbian Neighborhoods
This article was written by GayRealEstate.com and distributed through the Gay and Lesbian International News Network (GLINN.)
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13 Responses to “Portland Tops Best Gay Ghetto List for 2008”
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What happened to San Francisco? We are 35% gay here!!
Atlanta? Midtown isn’t as gay as it used to be. The city is dead culturally–a crappy art museum that gets good traveling shows, a nearly bankrupt symphony, an opera that moved to sunburuban strip mall and some 2nd rate galleries. It attracts gay people who are tioo intimidated by New York or San Francisco and afraid of Chicago’s cold. Chicago or DC are better places for gay folks; plenty of culture, gay friendly neighborhoods, decent ethnic restauranst. Chicago has nice people. DC has worldly people. Atlanta has neither despite trading on Southern hospitality and long dead Hot Lanta hipness.
Austin has no gay ghettos. Plenty o gays, sure, but no ghettos.
yeah, as a North Carolinian, I question both Raleigh and Charlotte’s places on the list (though I’d say Raleigh is more deserving than the uber conservative Charlotte).
And I really question DC’s absence from the list.
. . . and San Diego?
A huge gay scene covering dozens of blocks in Hillcrest (out, loud and proud!) and near bye Northpark. Also Kensington and Mission Hills (many gay home owners and businesses.)
Not to take anything away from Portland, because I do like it there, but this list is really questionable. These might be nice places for gay people to live, but if we are talking about “gay ghettos”, how can you have a list that doesn’t include The Castro in San Francisco or The West Village in NYC?
As someone already stated, there is no gay ghetto in Austin, and to say that it’s high tech tech presence is only rivaled by Silicon Valley is like saying that it’s skyscrapers are only rivaled by Manhattan. I think there is a little bit of hyperbole and self-promotion underway here.
That Fort Lauderdale and or Wilton Manors and or Oakland Park are not even mentioned is a JOKE! I have lived in a lot of these areas and nothing really compares to the CASTRO, CHELSEA or all of LAUDERDALE. These are the gayest neighborhoods in the country. Period.
Ghettos? When did a great museum and thriving Arts community become part of a definition for a Gay Ghetto…that’s something that results years after the “ghetto” has been gentrified by the gays and taken over by young straight families. I agree with many that question the absence of The Castro, The Village, and even West Hollywood…ghettos are defined by poor living conditions and people who can’t afford to live in the “nicer” areas of their communities, not just by the acceptance of community to allow them to live freely.
Obviously the list is made from various factors and the stability of housing prices is one of them. In contrast to most US cities Portland and Atlanta have both weathered the housing crisis with little trouble. Also, the term “ghetto” seems to be applied to each city as a whole and not specific areas within it, which is a little confusing.
I live in Portland, and they really don’t know much about our city. The “Burnside Triangle” they mention actually followed the development of the Pearl district and not vice versa and the Pearl district’s development was YEARS later than the gentrification of the Northwest neighborhood. They have it all backwards. Further, the development of these areas lead directly to the closing of 3 long established gay bars and their relocation to another part of town. It was all MUCH more of a gay district before.
I don’t think that they have any actual data to support their statement that Hawthorne has the biggest concentration of lesbians “on the continent”. I always thought Olympia, Washington held that honor.
We did, however, just elect an opening gay mayor and his sexuality was never an issue in election. Portland is an awesome city, with a huge gay population and virtually no straight vs. gay problems, but this article didn’t really list any of the correct reasons aside from gay mayor and good housing market.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I found this list through the gay news network and kind of questioned it myself, and I really think that your comments are better than the article! I have to confess that I added the part about us electing an openly gay mayor.
Jay…your comments about the Burnside Triangle are “spot-on.” I recently heard that McMenamins will be moving into the former Silverado-Club Portland building, after we were all told that Silverado moved and CP closed because the building was being torn down. Perhaps this intrepid reporter will attempt to get to the bottom (hee hee) of that.
Thanks!
Sorry guys but Short Hills, NJ and Metuchen, NJ are over 15 miles apart and have nothing to do with each other. I suspect you probably meant Short Hills/Millburn since Short Hills is technically part of Millburn, and it’s Millburn’s downtown area you are describing.
But frankly, the neighboring town, Maplewood, has a much bigger and more vibrant gay community, and even if it’s not quite as fancy and expensive a town as Short Hills it’s much more friendly and less pretentious.
This list sucks.
1. I think its really dumb for them to be doing something like this! Isn’t the point of gay activism to be able to integrate into larger society? I know it would be much harder to measure but wouldn’t it be more responsible to provide a list of best places for gay people to make straight friends?
2. As a resident (soon-to-be former resident) of Chicago, I’d like to note that while the city has a thriving bar scene, it also rates very low on the percentage of same-sex partner households when compared to other major cities, even some not known as gay meccas. In the 30 years I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve found that the community has an overaundant share of ghetto bar queens who can’t settle down in a relationship. On querying the geographical origin of gay folks in Chicago, one is struck by how many come from small cities in the Midwest. I theorize that people there have lots of internalized homophobia preventing them from integrating with the general community and forming partnerships. My theory is that this is less true in the Red States because (1) prejudice against gays is more open and so gay people learn it is irrational at an early age and (2) less of the population consists of Catholics. The Catholic church messes gay people who grow up in it more than conserrvative Protestants do because it seems to be harder for them to leave its guilt-inducing ideas behind.
It would be also interesting to see how various cities score on internalized homophobia.