They find new neighborhoods to move in to, spreading gay culture outside of particular bubbles, and helping the growth of the gay community across the city. And while residents may experience the inevitable double-edge sword of gay gentrification (a natural process that can take decades), it’s almost a blessing in disguise. Soon enough, there’s an entire migration with the LGBT dweller in mind. For decades, these neighborhoods have served as exemplary models for residents and travelers alike, and they’ll always be legendary pioneers in the gayborhood movement.Īs the world turns, other neighborhoods grow with gay pride, fueled by progressive men and women seeking affordable rent, bigger spaces, a sense of community, and overall convenience, both for living and business. They’re chockfull of gay-owned businesses and exciting nightlife. The Castro in San Francisco, West Hollywood in Los Angeles, the French Quarter in New Orleans, Midtown Atlanta, and the South End of Boston are nationally known, trendsetting, and predominately gay neighborhoods that celebrate gay culture and lifestyle. Like Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, many distinctive neighborhoods across America have served as a bastion for gay men and women, providing a safe space and forward-thinking community since the modern gay movement began. But all it really takes is cheap rent, the opening of one gay-owned business, and a vision to make the neighborhood flourish with rainbow colors.
Nobody knows what the next big gay neighborhood will be that’s how gentrification works. In areas with a comparable level of female same-sex households, we see a 16.5% increase.” In NYC, many people leave Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea to explore the new frontier of ungentrifed New York City. “In areas where male same-sex households comprise more than 1% of the population (a level three times the US average), we see about a 14% increase of the price. “We know that areas that have large concentrations of gays and lesbians increase in housing prices compared to the US national average,” he told the Guardian.
Gay gentrification is a double-edge sword, and it’s all too common when the gays find a new neighborhood to flip.Īccording to Amin Ghaziani, author of the book There Goes the Gayborhood?, LGBT residents boost property prices. Hell’s Kitchen became the new Chelsea, though it too fell victim to gay gentrification where rents often doubled, corporations set up shop, and many residents could no longer afford it. Two relatively unknown gay bars were slinging cocktails and blasting show tunes and, soon enough, the under-the-radar Hell’s Kitchen somewhat rivaled Chelsea, boasting more than a dozen gay bar openings within the past 15 years, and becoming home to a thriving LGBT community.
Hell’s Kitchen was rough around the edges, but comparatively cheaper and already settled by a small community of gay artists, dancers, and performers considering its close proximity to the Theater District. When nobody thought Chelsea could be out-gayed, gay men and women started heading north where they essentially founded Hell’s Kitchen at the turn of the 21st century. No other neighborhood was more gay-approved, though Chelsea’s strength became its weakness: the neighborhood was getting crowded, commercialized, and too expensive for longtime residents. Through the decades, gay bars continued to open, like Splash, Barracuda, and G Lounge, and modern, gay-owned boutiques like Malin + Goetz started replacing ubiquitous sex shops. You could eat, party, cruise and live here there was no reason to leave this cozy utopia. Chelsea became a wonderful bubble for the gay community, and no one could pop it. Rent was considerably cheaper than the popular, next-door neighborhood of the West Village, and gay-owned shops eventually opened along Eighth Avenue. It was home to a handful of gay bars like The Eagle and The Spike, as well as one of the first known gay dance clubs, Seventeenth Saloon, where an eclectic range of gay men mingled. In the mid-1970s, the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan was considered one of the safest places in America for the LGBT community.