The city is known for its gay-centric focus.
It is able to do what bigger cities can't, focus on the LGBTQ residents by providing services, support and events. West Hollywood is different because of its cityhood and that may be its saving grace, Gates said. By and large, gay neighborhoods were established by gay men and are home to very few lesbians, transgender folks and gays of color. Unlike other places, West Hollywood has been able to maintain a healthy gay population and is committed to its mission as an LGBTQ city, said Mayor John D'Amico.Īccording to city surveys, its population remains about 45% LGBTQ - mainly gay men. "They are growing up in a world that is quite different."
So their desire for exclusive gay options may be different than past generations," said Gates. "Young people are coming out in a different way, and what it means to them and how they live and the opportunities they have are different than previous generations. These neighborhoods that have beckoned LGBTQ youth for decades have also been impacted by technology which makes it easier to find community and relationships online, broader social acceptance and whether young people feel the need or desire to live in enclave neighborhoods.īaby boomers and Gen Xer's who created and flocked to gay neighborhoods grew up in a time when it was taboo to be gay and sometimes dangerous to reveal their sexual identity, even to family and friends. Bitterman is co-writing a book about the evolution of gay neighborhoods and what factors are at play.
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High prices aren't the only drivers of the change, said Alex Bitterman, professor and chair of architecture and design at Alfred State College in Upstate New York. What is nipping at the edges of the gay community in West Hollywood has already swept through other gay neighborhoods across the country including Chelsea in New York, Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. "West Hollywood is still our paradise," Block said. "Apart from the Brady Bunch version of the California dream, it's been one about people going to a new place to feel more free, open and accepted."Īnd that is still true in West Hollywood where longtime LGBTQ residents and younger people just arriving or visiting find a sense of community even with all of the change. "California has long sought to make itself a place to welcome people who would feel more marginalized in other places," said Gary Gates, a retired UCLA professor who spent his career studying LGBT communities. The California dream many young gay people found there in the '70s and '80s, to be able to be themselves, to be safe and to be part of a community, is still alive albeit more expensive.
In California's biggest enclave - the city of West Hollywood - change is afoot too, but it looks different, and the city is working hard to maintain much of its gay population and continues to keep them front and center in civic activities and benefits. To make matters even more complicated, and expensive, Zillow released research in May showing that gay neighborhoods are so popular that buyers pay a premium to get in, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. Block places part of the blame on the city for freely issuing liquor licenses.Įxperts say gay neighborhoods, once a haven for mainly gay men, have been shifting for more than a decade, driven by gentrification and other social factors including a wider acceptance of LGBTQ community. One of the oldest shops, Los Angeles Sporting Club, is having its final closing sale. He points to new restaurants and bars up and down the street that operate out of the former sites of gay men's clothing stores. Block opened Block Party in 2009 and has had retail businesses in West Hollywood for more than three decades. Most of the other gay-owned clothing and retail owners have closed. "We lost our community in the last three or four years," said Larry Block from the sidewalk in front of his shop. On this stretch of what is loosely considered Boystown in the historically gay city, these three doors are some of the last gay-owned and gay-oriented businesses after a steady march of mainstream restaurants, bars and other retail have moved in. Wedged snugly between two of the most popular gay bars on Santa Monica Boulevard is Block Party, the "gayest" store in West Hollywood, selling men's tank tops, swimwear and short shorts, party-themed cowboy hats and everything Pride from rainbow beanie babies to vivid striped jumpsuits.