Considering how much I hate Winter,the warmer climates are sounding better all the time!

Also a Bostonian, and if I ever leave, my second choice would be the Pacific Northwest, where I have family and have traveled quite extensively.

Like New England, you're surrounded by the water, the mountains and the countryside, for great beauty and nearly unlimited recreational activities. The area in general has excellent cultural and academic resources, and a healthy and active LGBT community. You seldom have to face the physical impediments of snow and ice to disrupt your life (except at altitude, of course), and no oppressive heat and humidity like in the South -- although the long rainy season can definitely get to you psychologically. (Sunny winter vacations to California, Mexico or Hawaii highly recommended!)

While the cost of housing in the immediate Seattle area is just as bad as it is around here, there's also Portland, Vancouver and some of the smaller cities and towns in between that are similarly urbane and much more affordable. And then there's just the history and "flavor" of the West, differently nuanced and less "establishment" than here in the East.

Sounds like you've got a lot of places to visit before you settle down -- and plenty of friendly Outsports buddies to welcome you and show you around...

Santorum is senator of the entire state. The whole state gets to vote. Philadelphia votes Democrat. Santorum is Republican.

No offense to the good folks in Philly.

Hell, we've got Mitt Romney as gov, who has spent the last year badmouthing the state to the rest of the nation in his quest for the presidency.

Lots of good choices to consider on this list - glad to hear there are some welcoming places out there.

if you are looking in the Bay Area-stay out of San Fran--the housing market is still overheated

I'm living in the East Bay-in one of the Oakland burbs and I'm renting a one bedroom for $945 a month and I couldn't get anything close to what I have in San Fran for that amount

I love my little city-it's about 75K people; it has a small town feel to it; it's close enough to San Fran and Oakland so you can go anytime but we don't have nearly the problems that those two cities have

I'm literally minutes away from the Oakland Coliseum complex--houses the Warriors, Raiders and the A's and gets a lot of the top name concerts

Public transportation in this area is very reliable

and gas is cheaper by about a dime in the east bay that in San Francisco

Posted by U.ofHawaii (Member # 1327) on April 01, 2006, 06:15 AM:

Just returned to the States from deployment overseas. Will be taking my leave either in late May or early June. Any suggestion where I should spend my vacation. Am now getting more comfortable with my sexuality and would like to have a good time/gay time for this vacation. And my right hand is getting tired . Wanna have a good time and be safe at the same time. Am from the West Coast, and would mostly preferred visiting a city there. Your feedback would be appreciated.


Posted by hockeyTom (Member # 663) on April 01, 2006, 08:06 AM:

Well, I will throw this out at you. I would highly recommend my second home San Francisco, of course. A good gay time should be had by all. Plus the weather should be quite good. If not San Francisco, I would consider Vancouver B.C. or Seattle where the men are generally as beautiful as the scenery. Just my 2 cents worth. Have fun!


Posted by justaguy (Member # 4148) on April 01, 2006, 08:44 AM:

How about Palm Springs? A number of gay resorts there..and lots of bars.

Miami/Ft Lauderdale is a pretty cool place to live. It just seems to be such a non-issue here, and I'm not just talking about the gayborhoods of South Beach, Wilton Manors, Victoria Park, Miami Shores, etc....
We live in the Southwest suburbs, and there are gay peeps living all around us. Our social life consists of gays and straits alike...
The Miami Herald & Ft Lauderdale Sun-Suntinel routinely run articles about people who just happen to be gay without making a big deal out of it....

The Advocate's 2007 list of the "Best Places for Gays and Lesbians to Live" (in the US):

• Columbus OH
• Dallas TX
• Ferndale MI
• Ithaca NY
• Lexington KY
• Missoula MT
• Portland OR
• San Diego CA
• Santa Fe NM
• Tucson AZ

And the "up-and-coming gayborhoods" :

• Midtown, Atlanta
• South End, Boston
• North Davidson St, Charlotte
• Andersonville & Wicker Park, Chicago
• Oak Cliff, Dallas
• Stapleton, Denver
• East Side, Madison
• Third Ward & South Second St, Milwaukee
• Clinton, NYC
• Washington Sq West, Philadelphia
• Shaw, Washing Tundy Sea

A number of letter-writers have taken exception: "Having lived in the Lexington Kentucky area all my life, I have one question. Did you actually come to Lexington before you named it as one of the Best Places?", and "Ferndale? You've got to be joking!"

Now in Boston's case, the South End was "up-and-coming" 20-30 years ago. These days it's more like "been there, done that". Many of the neighborhood's gay pioneers have sold their places to (pardon the expression) hets -- a combination of affluent kid-and-a-dog starter families and empty-nesters from the suburbs -- and moved on to gentrify the housing stock in such previously industrial and blue collar neighborhoods as SoWa, Dorchester and Southie. Or they've retired to Ft Lauderdale.

What about your town?

Our gayborhood has signs now. Maybe that will move us into the top ten. Woo-hoo!

Stapleton ("Gaypleton") in Denver is definitely where a lot of gay couples go to settle down. Unfortunately, it is a lot like Stepford. I will stick to the older neighborhoods near there (Park Hill, Mayfair, Montclair, etc.), or for the same money (but lower taxes) I would move to Lowry.

Lexington, Kentucky??? Seriously???

In Germany I think it's Cologne even more than Berlin. Cologne is often linked to homosexuality the way San Francisco is. They do celebrate a pretty wild carnival, too.

Obviously I'm biased because I live here - but Toronto certainly is one of the best places to live as a gay person. This is where the first gay marriages in Canada were held and now they are accepted without people really batting an eyelash anymore. Even the regular wedding magazines once a year come out with their gay and lesbian issues.

Actually the 'gay village' is shrinking somewhat but in large part that is because many gay people don't really feel the need to live in or go out exclusviely in the village any more to feel at home. We can go out anywhere in the city and for the most part feel very comfortable. And younger gays party with their straight friends in the main entertainment district and don't seem to need the gay exclusive places we needed when I was their age.

Gays are living all over the city now and because of that various straight bars out in those areas now host weekly or monthly gay nights to cater to all the gays in their area. Heck - our pro sport teams are even very gay friendly - with both the Jays and Raptors having hosted gay nights and the Leafs having often sponsored or supported gay sporting events in the city in some way.

We live in a country that has entrenched our rights as part of its constitution, we have many gay friendly neighbourhoods, gay friendly school boards, a very gay friendly mayor and city council, a successful gay theatre complex, multiple successful gay sports leagues. Our volleyball league now has 56 teams!

We might not have as vibrant a gay nightlife scene as our friends in Montreal - but everything else about being gay in this city is great. We even have our new commercial radio station - that caters exclusively to the GLBT community - appropriately called 103.9 - Proud FM. www.proudfm.com.

I can't really see myself moving from here.

Shame no EU city seems to be anywhere into this list.
We havent got a gay friendly city up here...

We have Barcelona tho which is straight friendly. And London which its gay life is great but is no friendly at all unless you are a dog or a horse.

I'd have to agree with Travelpat, Toronto has to be one of the gayest and gay friendliest cities in the world. You can walk hand in hand pretty much anywere with your significant other and most people will not even bat an eye. The Church St Gay Village may be in decline, but other areas of the city have large gay populations, such as Cabbagetown/Riverdale, The Beaches, Queen West (often called Queer West Village) and High Park.

When I visited Toronto this past summer I was very very impressed by the great vibes I got from the city. It definitely felt very gay friendly.

I like smaller cities and even small towns... I'm a Chicago native but living in a big city doesn't really agree with me. Right now I live in an Indiana town (far chicago suburb) that has not much dating life, but does have quite a number of gay couples who the community has welcomed without a problem. I'm here mostly because of family, and using the time to try to decide on grad school or what direction my career is going to go.


In Michigan Ferndale and Royal Oak are pretty comfortable... Ferndale has a gay mayor just elected...
Grand Rapids is actually becoming a friendly place and if I stayed in this region that is probably where I would move... And I actually had a really good dating life when I lived in northwest Ohio. I had a friend who had a great life in Cleveland, too. I wouldn't write off this area, its more open and comfortable than most people know.


Places I haven't gotten to visit yet, but really want to, are Vancouver and Calgary, and Austin, TX. Seattle and Portland - if its as rainy and grungy as people make it out to be, it wouldn't be for me. It would be someplace to check out on a vacation though and see what I think. I've wanted to check out Atlanta, I know its big, but that might be a place I'd like to visit... southern accents =) The mountains (NC, Tennessee, West Virginia) appeals to me but I don't know how "gay life" is there.


The one place that really got to me was New Orleans in early 2001... I saw the cutest boys holding hands in a Burger King and kissing... made me melt.

Have you ever been to Saugutuck?

From The Advocate's February issue: Gayest Cities in America

Their top 5:

1. Atlanta, Ga.
Georgia isn’t the most gay-friendly state, but Atlanta is undoubtedly our gayest city—with 29 gay bars here, there’s a reason it’s dubbed Hotlanta. Atlanta’s several queer events include one of the nation’s largest Prides in October (returning to Piedmont Park this year), and MondoHomo, a May event celebrating art, drag, burlesque, film, and BBQ. The gay epicenter is Midtown, anchored by Outwrite Books, a giant gay bookstore bucking the national trend—by staying in business! Atlanta guys are hunky, the ladies are gracious, the gay sports leagues are seriously well organized, and its housewives (and their gay BFFs, complete with handbags and heels) are now camp icons. And who doesn’t love the sweet lilt of a Georgia accent on a knockout guy or gal?

2. Burlington, Vt.
3. Iowa City
4. Bloomington, Ind.
5. Madison, Wis.

That list is a crock of shit.

I was in Chicago for the Gay Games and found the whole city to be very gay friendly, welcoming, and had lots of gay organizations, and not just for the games. The burbs of Boston (Northampton) are known to the the gay women's mecca.

I agree, the criteria is flawed and if the idea is to stress secondary cities like Burlington and Bloomington, then why are major metros like Atlanta and San Diego in the list?

Out of all the places I have been I would say, in order:


1) Portland
2) Vancouver
3) Peurto Vallarta
4) San Fran
5) Toronto
6) Olympia

PV is probably the easiest place I have ever been to be open with another guy. The old village is essentially owned by gay Canadians, and it would be number one on my list but for the fact that it is too small and too tourist dependent.


San Fran is great and a lot of fun but, what left an exceptionally bad taste in my mouth was the way that my straight, ally friends were treated at gay establishments. This was mid-week and places weren't busy. Coming from Vancouver we were all shocked by the reaction because the attitude at home is essentially live and let live.

Boston might have made the list, but out of the times I have been there I really didn't experience any of the gay scene at all because it was basically all business.

Because in relationship to San Francisco and New York, the "Big" gay cities, they are small. By any other criteria, too, say, in terms of financial, cultural, and artistic impact...they are small cities. Though Atlanta is the epitome of suburban sprawl, it remains a small city.

Maybe your bad San Francisco experience was because you called it "San Fran."

But seriously, and not to excuse bad behavior, there has been a flood of straight women, mostly, into the Castro. I've been to some bars where it's 25% straight women some nights. A year ago you saw maybe one or two women at most. Some of the old Castro denizens are having a tough time adjusting. It's definitely changed the tone of underwear night at the 440 bar, and made other places a lot less cruisey.

Personally I don't care as long as they don't screech in that way that some drunk women do.

I just heard yesterday that Atlanta was the gayest city!!!

I have to agree -- that list is utter crap. I could see if they positioned it as an "off the beaten path" list of cities, but to think that ANY of those cities is more gay tolerant than NYC, LA, Chicago, SF, Washington or Boston is ludicrous. I think a better test of gay what makes a great gay city is whether a lesbian couple can walk hand in hand without fear of being yelled at or a gay man can put a picture of his boyfriend on his desk at the office without it being all that remarkable.