The census estimates the Hillcrest ZIP code, 92103, is home to 195 unmarried female same-sex couples, while the less-populous Alpine ZIP code, 91901, has about 73.īut the entire county is estimated to have 1,425 of these couples, so 73 is a lot for one little community out on the I-8 that lots of people couldn’t find on a map. We’re talking percentages, not actual numbers. So do Alpine and Hillcrest have the same number of lesbian couples? If you’d like to poke around by census tract, click here. You can find other clusters of lesbian couples in chunks of communities like Vista, Escondido, Imperial Beach, Rancho Peñasquitos, El Cajon, Julian and more.Ĭlick here to find an interactive version of the map that allows you to zoom in and click on individual ZIP codes to see the data that the census has collected about unmarried female same-sex couples. Countywide, the top two census tracts with the highest percentages of unmarried lesbian couples are in an area of northern North Park (3 percent of households or about 86 couples) and an area of southern North Park (also 3 percent of households, about 78 couples). Still, the census thinks Alpine is home to dozens of lesbian couples.Īnother way to look at census data is to analyze how many of these couples live in individual census tracts, which are much smaller than ZIP codes and provide a very local view of who lives where. It went overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in the last presidential election, while some Mid-City neighborhoods gave more than 80 percent of their vote to Hillary Clinton. But it’s much higher than the percentage of these couples in the county as a whole ( 0.1 percent).Īlpine, by the way, is no progressive utopia. That doesn’t seem like a lot, just 1 in 100.
I have heard examples of both in my research and writing.” Where do lesbian couples live in San Diego? Similarly, some may want to live in the gayborhood but have been pushed out through gentrification. “Some may want to live out of the gayborhood, but housing discrimination or fear of not being socially accepted may restrict their other options.
“You have to consider the extent to which where gay men and lesbians live is a free choice,” said Amy Spring, an assistant professor of sociology at Georgia State University.
Gay geography also reflects the progress - or lack of it - that the LGBT community is making in American society. If a “gayborhood” like Hillcrest becomes more straight, as seems to be happening to gay neighborhoods in some major cities, it can affect the local political power structure. The district has been represented by gay politicians on the Council since 1993 - two women and two men. Why does it matter where gay people live?įor one thing, it affects politics - the heavy LGBT presence in San Diego’s Council District 3 gives the gay community a larger voice in city politics. Gay men tend to prefer living in hip urban centers, while lesbians - who are more likely to have kids and therefore less money - are less concentrated in “gayborhoods.”Īs San Diego’s Pride Weekend begins, here is more on what the census numbers reveal and why anyone other than real-estate agents should care where gay couples and families like to live. This gap is familiar to researchers, though. When the census data is mapped, you can see a divide that may surprise those who assume Hillcrest is the local gay mecca: Lesbian couples are much more widely distributed around the county than their gay male counterparts, who tend to cluster in and around the progressive haven of Hillcrest. And Alpine has plenty of company on the list of unexpected local communities where lesbians seem to be more common than in the county as a whole. Hillcrest is San Diego’s gay neighborhood, right? Think again: For women, not so much.Ĭensus data suggests that if you live in the little East County town of Alpine, you’re just as likely to have an unmarried lesbian couple living next door as in Hillcrest. For Women, Hillcrest Isn't the Only Gayborhood | Voice of San Diego Close