Thursday, March 1, 2007

Castro's successors

Very interesting piece in the San Francisco Chronicle last weekend about the city's Castro district:

...up and down the enclave that has been a symbol of gay culture for more than three decades, heterosexuals are moving in. They have come to enjoy some of the same amenities that have attracted the neighborhood's many gay and lesbian residents: charming houses, convenient public transportation, safe streets and nice weather.

I love the detail about the nice weather -- New Englanders complain about our unpredictable weather, but it's so San Francisco to talk about weather as varying from neighborhood to neighborhood. On a more serious note, according to the Chronicle the encroachment of heterosexuals on gay neighborhoods is a phenomenon happening "from Chicago to New York City to Toronto, where urban revitalization is bringing new residents at the same time some gays are settling in other parts of cities or the suburbs."

San Francisco is apparently spending $100,000 on a plan to preserve the area's gay identity. (A variety of initiatives are on the table, from creating more affordable housing in the neighborhood to finding a home for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society's archives.) But the Castro has acheived symbolic status, and SF is a progressive city, and I wonder if other gay neighborhoods in other cities will be able to count on such support. I also wonder to what extent this phenomenon is in evidence here in Boston. Local Brainiac readers, any insight?

Posted by John Swansburg at 03:31 PM

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