Queersetti
Bastardo Suave
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2003
- Posts
- 37,288
Mapping The Gay Hood
by Doreen Brandt
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau
(Washington, D.C.)_How does your city rank in the gay hierarchy? It's no surprise that San Francisco is at the top of the list._ West Hollywood and New York City up there too. So is Provincetown._ Those are givens._ All are high profile gay meccas. But, what about the rest of the country.
That's what Urban Institute demographer Gary Gates and researcher Jason Ost set out to determine._ Mining data from the 2000 Census they've developed the first Gay and Lesbian Atlas.
The census did not ask specifically about sexuality, so it does not have information on the total gay community, but it did enquire about same-sex households, and that has provided Gates and Ost with a wealth of information.
"For years we've been saying that counting matters in debates about lesbian and gay issues. Now Gary Gates and Jason Ost have used the biggest and best dataset available on same-sex couples to show why in this remarkable book," says M. V. Lee Badgett, author of Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men._
"In addition to being incredibly useful for researchers, policymakers, businesspeople, and activists, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas has some fun surprises tucked inside its rankings that will challenge many stereotypes."_
Among those surprises:_ Vermont leads all states in the concentration of gay and lesbian couples. California, Washington, Massachusetts, and Oregon rank second through fifth. Desert southwest states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona also appear in the top ten.
Among large metropolitan areas, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Fort Lauderdale, and Austin rank highest in the concentration of same-sex couples. Smaller metropolitan areas of note include Portland, Maine; Asheville, North Carolina; Bloomington, Indiana; and Iowa City, Iowa.
The Cape Cod tourist destination of Provincetown claims the title of "gayest" town in America and also has the neighborhood with the country's highest concentration of same-sex couples. Neighborhoods in the California cities of San Francisco, Guerneville, and West Hollywood, along with areas in Fort Lauderdale, New York, Boston, and Houston, also rank among the top-ten neighborhoods.
While San Francisco; Fort Lauderdale; Santa Rosa, California; Seattle; and New York top the list of metropolitan areas in the concentration of gay male couples, the leading areas for lesbian couples are Santa Rosa; Santa Cruz, California; Santa Fe; San Francisco; and Oakland.
Gay and lesbian couples appear to be "urban pioneers," willing to live in and possibly transform distressed urban areas. They are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to live in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods that have more college-educated residents, older housing stock, and both higher crime rates and higher property values.
Same-sex couples with children often live in states and large metropolitan areas not known for large gay and lesbian communities. Mississippi, South Dakota, Alaska, South Carolina, and Louisiana are where same-sex couples are most likely raising children.
The South dominates the rankings of states by the concentration of African-American same-sex couples among all households and among other gay and lesbian couples. Texas's metropolitan areas (with their large Hispanic communities) feature prominently in similar rankings by the concentration of Hispanic gay or lesbian couples.
For each of the 50 states The Gay and Lesbian Atlas presents a two-page spread with colorful maps and charts showing the geographic distribution of same-sex couples and highlighting their demographic characteristics, including age, race and ethnicity, and the proportion raising children._
Twenty-five cities are also profiled with similar maps and charts-the 20 cities with the highest number of same-sex couples along with five cities chosen for geographic diversity or to acknowledge a particularly high concentration of gay and lesbian couples (Orlando; New Orleans; Nashville; Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri; and Albuquerque).
Published by the Urban Institute Press it will be available to the public on May 3.
by Doreen Brandt
365Gay.com Newscenter
Washington Bureau
(Washington, D.C.)_How does your city rank in the gay hierarchy? It's no surprise that San Francisco is at the top of the list._ West Hollywood and New York City up there too. So is Provincetown._ Those are givens._ All are high profile gay meccas. But, what about the rest of the country.
That's what Urban Institute demographer Gary Gates and researcher Jason Ost set out to determine._ Mining data from the 2000 Census they've developed the first Gay and Lesbian Atlas.
The census did not ask specifically about sexuality, so it does not have information on the total gay community, but it did enquire about same-sex households, and that has provided Gates and Ost with a wealth of information.
"For years we've been saying that counting matters in debates about lesbian and gay issues. Now Gary Gates and Jason Ost have used the biggest and best dataset available on same-sex couples to show why in this remarkable book," says M. V. Lee Badgett, author of Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men._
"In addition to being incredibly useful for researchers, policymakers, businesspeople, and activists, The Gay and Lesbian Atlas has some fun surprises tucked inside its rankings that will challenge many stereotypes."_
Among those surprises:_ Vermont leads all states in the concentration of gay and lesbian couples. California, Washington, Massachusetts, and Oregon rank second through fifth. Desert southwest states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona also appear in the top ten.
Among large metropolitan areas, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Fort Lauderdale, and Austin rank highest in the concentration of same-sex couples. Smaller metropolitan areas of note include Portland, Maine; Asheville, North Carolina; Bloomington, Indiana; and Iowa City, Iowa.
The Cape Cod tourist destination of Provincetown claims the title of "gayest" town in America and also has the neighborhood with the country's highest concentration of same-sex couples. Neighborhoods in the California cities of San Francisco, Guerneville, and West Hollywood, along with areas in Fort Lauderdale, New York, Boston, and Houston, also rank among the top-ten neighborhoods.
While San Francisco; Fort Lauderdale; Santa Rosa, California; Seattle; and New York top the list of metropolitan areas in the concentration of gay male couples, the leading areas for lesbian couples are Santa Rosa; Santa Cruz, California; Santa Fe; San Francisco; and Oakland.
Gay and lesbian couples appear to be "urban pioneers," willing to live in and possibly transform distressed urban areas. They are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to live in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods that have more college-educated residents, older housing stock, and both higher crime rates and higher property values.
Same-sex couples with children often live in states and large metropolitan areas not known for large gay and lesbian communities. Mississippi, South Dakota, Alaska, South Carolina, and Louisiana are where same-sex couples are most likely raising children.
The South dominates the rankings of states by the concentration of African-American same-sex couples among all households and among other gay and lesbian couples. Texas's metropolitan areas (with their large Hispanic communities) feature prominently in similar rankings by the concentration of Hispanic gay or lesbian couples.
For each of the 50 states The Gay and Lesbian Atlas presents a two-page spread with colorful maps and charts showing the geographic distribution of same-sex couples and highlighting their demographic characteristics, including age, race and ethnicity, and the proportion raising children._
Twenty-five cities are also profiled with similar maps and charts-the 20 cities with the highest number of same-sex couples along with five cities chosen for geographic diversity or to acknowledge a particularly high concentration of gay and lesbian couples (Orlando; New Orleans; Nashville; Kansas City, Kansas/Missouri; and Albuquerque).
Published by the Urban Institute Press it will be available to the public on May 3.
