Queers like us are staying away from expensive and hetero-invaded Castro.
According to a report on www.edgnewyork.com, starting in the 1970s the Castro became home to countless LGBT residents of San Francisco, who began moving into the rundown neighborhood and revitalizing what was then known as Eureka Valley.
The Success:
But the community’s success at turning around the residential area has come at a cost. Today, many LGBT people find themselves priced out of the Castro.
The big problem:
Rents for one bedrooms now range from $1,500 to more than $2,100 a month while housing costs $450,000 for a one-bedroom unit to upwards of $1 million or more for a single-family home.
The Impact:
Has been an increase of straight couples moving into the Castro while queer residents migrate to neighborhoods deemed less than desirable, such as the Tenderloin, Civic Center, and Bayview-Hunters Point. A once thriving lesbian scene along Valencia Street has been reduced to a few businesses, while fears rise that lesbians will soon be priced out of the Bernal Heights neighborhood. Cities ringing the bay have established themselves as appealing alternatives to LGBT people looking to buy a home or find reasonable rents. Oakland in the East Bay and Santa Rosa in the North Bay have thriving lesbian populations. Vallejo, a 55-minute ferry ride from downtown San Francisco, continues to be a draw for many gay male couples. And San Jose recently launched a new campaign to attract younger gay professionals who work in Silicon Valley to its downtown. The changing demographics of the Bay Area’s "gayaspora" and the emergence of new "gayborhoods" has led to much anguish among San Francisco’s LGBT community, fearful that one day the Castro will merely be a historical reference point as opposed to the gay mecca it has served as for close to 40 years.
According to a report on www.edgnewyork.com, starting in the 1970s the Castro became home to countless LGBT residents of San Francisco, who began moving into the rundown neighborhood and revitalizing what was then known as Eureka Valley.
The Success:
But the community’s success at turning around the residential area has come at a cost. Today, many LGBT people find themselves priced out of the Castro.
The big problem:
Rents for one bedrooms now range from $1,500 to more than $2,100 a month while housing costs $450,000 for a one-bedroom unit to upwards of $1 million or more for a single-family home.
The Impact:
Has been an increase of straight couples moving into the Castro while queer residents migrate to neighborhoods deemed less than desirable, such as the Tenderloin, Civic Center, and Bayview-Hunters Point. A once thriving lesbian scene along Valencia Street has been reduced to a few businesses, while fears rise that lesbians will soon be priced out of the Bernal Heights neighborhood. Cities ringing the bay have established themselves as appealing alternatives to LGBT people looking to buy a home or find reasonable rents. Oakland in the East Bay and Santa Rosa in the North Bay have thriving lesbian populations. Vallejo, a 55-minute ferry ride from downtown San Francisco, continues to be a draw for many gay male couples. And San Jose recently launched a new campaign to attract younger gay professionals who work in Silicon Valley to its downtown. The changing demographics of the Bay Area’s "gayaspora" and the emergence of new "gayborhoods" has led to much anguish among San Francisco’s LGBT community, fearful that one day the Castro will merely be a historical reference point as opposed to the gay mecca it has served as for close to 40 years.
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