Gay (Friendly) Small Towns in the Deep South?? And don't you dare say Asheville!!! (Atlanta: home, college)

[Sparky85]

I have looked into Wilmington, NC Savannah, GA (Wilmington Island Area) and into Northern Alabama. Does anyone know a a good gay friendly town in the south. Its doesn't have to even be "gay" just gay friendly.

I really don't want to here about Asheville as it does seems to be overpriced and too hippie for my tastes. I currently live in Minneapolis, MN and grew up in Las Vegas, NV. I have Fine Dining serving experience and can get a job most places. We, as well own a cleaning service. I am looking for a slower pace than the one afforded to me in a fast paced city like Minneapolis with its 3+million residents.

I thought Savannah would be a nice place although it might be a little bigger than what my perfect is, and with murder rates the same as here (Minneapolis 350,000 residents with 57 murders a year to Savannah's 124,000 with 27) it doesn't seem like an improvement. Although I would probably live as near the beach as possible and the Barrier Islands may be nice.

I, in short, am looking for a slow quiet place that me and partner (of 5 years) can live in the Deep South

Thanks!

[ellie]

Lots of gays and lesbians in Sav. The rest of us are usually friendly.

There are plenty of good restaurants, but with the economy being so funky, I'm not sure much work there is. It's a smaller community than you would expect from a city this size. There are two Savannahs, the inside and the outside. Once you start scoping out the inside, where the main players in the food industry are, you'll find there are only a handful of people in the whole scene.

I know virtually nothing about the cleaning business, though earlier this week I was scanning the yellow pages for a service for my home and saw only two or three advertised there. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place?

If you'll scroll through the old threads in this forum, you'll probably get most of your answers in short order.

Make sure you visit before you move.

[DisgustaTruth]

Savannah is an obvious choice..
And outside of metro Atlanta, it's probably about it.
Athens seems to be gay friendly, as do most college towns.. they seem to be a bit more liberal overall than other towns in the South.
Dahlonega may be an option.. IT has a college and is become quite artsy, but not in a hippy sort of way ike has happened to Asheville.

[Southlander]

Birmingham, Alabama

[Sparky85]

Southlander

Why Birmingham?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Southlander

Birmingham, Alabama

1. Not a small city
2. My friends there say that it is very closeted compared to southern cities of similar size like Nashville and Charlotte.

Don't get me wrong, B'ham has some positives. But it would not be at the top of my list if I were a gay person.
In the south, I find that the small communities that have the tightest gay communities are the ones that cater to tourism and have a thriving arts community...i.e.:

Savannah, GA
Wilmington, NC
Highlands, NC
Brunswick/St Simons Island, GA
St Augustine, FL
Charleston, SC
Hilton Head Island, SC
Fairhope, AL

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by DisgustaTruth

Savannah is an obvious choice..
And outside of metro Atlanta, it's probably about it.
Athens seems to be gay friendly, as do most college towns.. they seem to be a bit more liberal overall than other towns in the South.
Dahlonega may be an option.. IT has a college and is become quite artsy, but not in a hippy sort of way ike has happened to Asheville.

I haven't been to Dahlonega in a while and anything is possible. The college is North GA College/military --unless they have made some big changes and quite possibly they have.

[WanderingImport]

Brunswick?? Hilton Head?? Fairhope?? Wow. Maybe I haven't been updated or something, but I didn't know these communities were as "gay friendly" as Savannah, Charleston or Asheville....

[Sparky85]

Hilton Head is insanely expensive - I thought Charleston was high but wow!

[DisgustaTruth]

I overlooked Highlands, NC...great arts scene there.. smaller than asheville but not sure it is any less expensive.
Dahlonega is becoming quite an arts city. It hosts a great annual film festival.. and has really become rather open minded for north Georgia.