Last week, we took a look at the most gay-friendly places to live in the U.S. Today we are zooming in to have a look at California, assuredly a great place for gay people to call home. We reviewed The Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) “Equality Index” which evaluated 137 U.S. cities from all 50 states as to their LGBT- supportive criteria. Of that bunch, only 11 scored 100 percent on the index, and yes, six of those 11 were located in California.
The 47 standards included such elements as nondiscrimination laws, relationship recognition, employment practices, inclusiveness of city services, law enforcement and municipal leadership. The six California cities to be anointed as deserving a perfect rating were Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Palm Springs, Long Beach and West Hollywood. Cities receiving A’s but slightly less than perfect scores included Berkeley (95); Sacramento (91) and Oakland (92).
Trulia did a comparable study of gay-friendly communities and broke it down to specifically gay male and lesbian concentrations. San Francisco made both lists, with the Castro district and Noe Valley high on both. As to California venues, Palm Springs and West Hollywood made the gay list; Oakland and Guerneville, Calif. the lesbian one. Trulia made an interesting finding that gay men appear to have more expensive tastes in real estate than their lesbian counterparts; the average gay male couple lives in an area with a median per square foot price of $208 as opposed to $139 for lesbian couples. But both top the national average of $127.
California gay-friendly places tend to be pricey. In San Francisco, the popular Castro comes in at $671 per square foot; affordable alternatives include Brisbane ($311) and Redwood Heights in Oakland ($230). In Los Angeles, West Hollywood clocks in at $481; a good less expensive choice is Long Beach ($200-207).
When it comes to our own San Diego, we found lots of good gay-friendly neighborhoods to choose from. Here’s the rundown of great happy places to camp out and make friends. No. 1 on the list is Hillcrest, San Diego’s official LGBT neighborhood and home of the Pride parade. Hillcrest has great shopping and nightlife spots and is welcoming to all. Other great places include North Park and University Heights. Both are walking distance to Hillcrest and a favorite weekend hangout for gay folks. There is also Mission Hills, Marston Hills and Bankers Hill, a tad more expensive, but close to favorite attractions like the world famous Zoo and Balboa Park.
Normal Heights is home to many gay and lesbian couples and has some charming and historic homes.
The bottom line is that California has some really terrific “gayborhoods” as they are called, and good vibes are happening all over the state.
Del Phillips is a California Licensed Real Estate agent. He is a member of the National, California and San Diego Association of Realtors. You can reach Del at Ascent Real Estate at 619-298-6666 or at Del@DelPhillips.com DRE LIC #01267333.
