Can a thriving gay and lesbian neighborhood be created through official urban planning? My immediate reaction might be an unqualified no, since I figure community-building is a organic process. I can understand encouraging gay businesses to set up shop in the city, but formally mapping out a district seems strange. However, reading the article about Oakland softened my position a little bit. I suppose if there’s enough support among the local gay community, as well as the straights to some extent–I can understand some of the comments quoted in the article; when I lived in the Bay Area, I never thought to trek to the East Bay for any kind of gay scene–then it could work on some level. (Link via Queer Day.)
Oakland [Calif.] has launched an official effort to cultivate a gay and lesbian neighborhood, an attempt to capture local dollars now flowing into San Francisco.
The idea is to create a gathering place for Oakland’s large but widely distributed gay and lesbian population. Such an enclave, city officials hope, will improve blighted storefronts and make Oakland more attractive to prospective residents and businesses.
Related: opinion piece in USA Today by Richard Florida, “Gay-tolerant societies prosper economically,” Apr. 30, 2003. (Links via Thom and Gene.)