Best Cities to live for TLGB

[Kitty Sue]

Alright everybody I hope you are all well. I currently live in a small town in Ohio and am looking at moving within the next 6 months. I am looking at places to move.

Lucky for me I can live pretty much anywhere in the USA, Australia or New Zealand. Europe too, maybe an option. So girls where is a good GLBT town/ city to move to.

Thanks and kisses in advance, KS.:daydreaming::love:

[dilane]

Hi KS,

I live in LA. Here is a list of good and not so good stuff about my town:

1. Huge, therefore it's easy to be anonymous, you are very unlikely to run into people you know, if that's your fear when out.
2. A large gay owned and operated city (the upscale West Hollywood) is embedded within Los Angeles, next to Beverly Hills. If you're not quite ready for the straight world, you can find lots of friendly places and nice restaurants along the main street here (Santa Monica Blvd).
3. Very blue and PC in general. Especially the middle-class and better areas, which there are many square miles of. I Stay out of low income areas (a general admonishment no matter where you live). I went to Jury duty en-femme in LA, (which has a good gender policy), and was treated well and even selected to be on a jury.
4. Restaurants and shopping galore, many, many cool places to explore if you're out in the straight world. Shopping en-femme is no problem, similar to what I read about other areas of our country.
5. If you're outdoorsy, hundreds of miles of mountain trails nearby.
5. 320 days of sunshine a year! Usually 15-20 days of rain mainly in Jan & Feb. Then it's dry the rest of the year. Lowest temps are in the 40's, just a few days a year. It is not humid or buggy (desert ecology). Highs hit 100F a few days in the summers, usually temps max out in the 80's in the summer, and 60's in the winter.
6. There is a popular and well known TG haunt in the Valley (The Oxwood).

On the downside, rents and housing prices are high here. Traffic can be nasty at rush hour, the solution is to live near work -- most people in LA don't have that much of a commute.

[Jilmac]

I live in the Greater Milwaukee area and although we have a well established LGBT community I believe Madison Wi. is a much more liberal and accepting city, being home to the states largest universtiy. If you're used to midwest winters give Madison a try.

[Kitty Sue]

Thanks ladies. I have heard good things about both areas. This is definitely the kind of endorsements I am looking for.

[celeste26]

Well Portland Oregon has a gay mayor if that sounds like something worthwhile. The entire Northwest is pretty, has little smog and plenty of good clean water. Lots of recreation nearby skiing, hiking in actual forests not dry river beds like LA. Our trees (there are a lot of them around here are actually green, not brown like LA also.

There are several transformation studios and lots of lower cost housing here. Portland has professional sports and all the amenities of a large city and only a few of the worse aspects of those large cities. There are also gender support services here for every variation of need there might be.

Climate wise we have four seasons with just a little snow, nothing to really worry about, our spring and fall are outstanding color blasting everywhere, and the summer is clear and hot if that's what you like.

I highly recommend the Northwest particularly Portland OR>

[Jo-Michelle]

I too live in Ohio, in one of the bigger cities and crossdressing isn't real accepted here. Theres a few places you can go, not many. I don't have a suggestion, but I LOVE D.C.

[Sedona]

Yes, another vouch for Portland, OR. And, don't forget the Mecca for alterna-lifestyles, San Francisco. It's the city every other should be compared to, if (a big if) you can afford to live there.

[julie w]

I travel quite a lot and IMHO it depends more on how you look than where you are if you dont look too convincing you may get looked at and maybe you will meet a rude person that might say something ,that can happen anywhere

[amy canada]

I live in the Toronto area (Toronto, Ontario, of course) and we have our annual Gay Pride Parade in June (which I still have not attended). From what my local sisters here have mentioned, Toronto is a very accepting city as far as GLBT are concerned. I even noticed a store on Yonge Street (the most well known street in Toronto) advertise that they had pumps up to size 17, so you could figure out that they cater to men who want to dress as women.

[dilane]

Celeste Darling....

Here's a pic from one of my favorite hiking routes. The trailhead is about 10 miles north of LA's downtown.

http://screencast.com/t/ZiHVEUM1Xa9

It's taken after a 2 hour hike. We're 4400' above sea level. LA is bounded on the north by high mountains. We are above the forest. Yes, that's snow -- in the winter the snow level drops down to about 3500'. The mountains are snowy now.

The blue band in the background is the pacific, and the furthest mountains in the misty distance are on Catalina Island, 75 miles away and 26 miles offshore...

I do like the northwest, and enjoyed my time in Portland, but LA is not all parched earth, puh-leeze...

-- Diane

[Karen Francis]

I'll give a little nudge for Bucks County PA. Specifically New Hope PA. About 30 miles north of Philadelphia, 75 miles west of NYC. . Numerous TG friends of mine and I have been going there for years, totally accepting.

[SFRachel]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area which must be CD heaven. San Francisco has large gay, lesbian, and transgender communities and is very supportive of alternative lifestyles. There are many organizations and a variety of clubs where CD's would be most welcome. Check out Carlas.com in San Jose and AdamtoEve.com in San Francisco for help with amazing transformations as well as ongoing social events.

[PaulaSF]

To second Rachel, I ought to "vote" for SF, too, but like Diane's rundown on LA, take those high rents, and add 1/3 to half more, for SF proper! A decent 2 br. apt. is pushing $3k/mo. and $300-500 extra for a garage- tho NYC or Tokyo make that look cheap... I lived in SF, for 20 years, on high Silicon Valley wages, and felt extremely middle-class...

Plus, its almost too easy going out, en femme- there are so many t's, so that I don't think its a very realistic comparison. Tho, due to the vast exposures, it seems to be the only town where you're not automatic labeled gay- i.e. "average" folks generally know the distinction between DQs, CDs & TSes etc. We had a post-op police commisioner, and I know the post-op director of the gay chamber of commerce; so that's plenty of media exposure.

But as a stepping stone, for the first few years of transitioning, for example, and you could afford it... but long-term I'm going vote for a tie between Amsterdam & Berlin. Biased, cuz I've enjoyed en femme time in both places, and they tend to make SF look provincial, in many ways! And nothing beats talking German with the doorman, then cab driver, while in a Latex Dominatrix outfit, driving thru the Tiergarten, headed to a fetish ball...

I started as a Carla's girl in '96, and have guided clients of Eve's out to clubs, so can second Rachel's "shilling". Tho I think a storefront operation, like Carla's, prolly appeals to more folks... And her locker rentals are used by a number of gals I know, that are well past needing her services, or shopping there.

cheers,
Paula

[flatlander_48]

I agree with Portland, OR, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I've been to all (but not dressed) and I always make it a point to understand what the LGBT Community is like, how strong, how tolerant, how big, etc. In addition, I think Ithaca, NY qualifies. LGBT folks seem to be pretty woven into the fabric of the town there.

[Denise01]

As Amy pointed out Toronto is very good and has probably one of the biggest Pride parades in North America.

I understand too, that Ottawa Ontario is very good. The are well accepting, have a good T/G community there and also good support.

While not near as big as Toronto, they do have a Pride parade up there as well, which is well attended and accepted by the people

Denise

[Kelli Michelle]

Houston has a very large gay population, and blocks of shopping, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. devoted primarily the GLBTCD community. There is a large TG community there, and plenty of activists around.

[whynotwendy]

My vote would be for South Florida. The area is pleasant year round and very open minded to all cultures.

Hugs to all, Wendy

[JoannaCaroline]

This is my preference of cities based upon many factors of which TG friendly is one. My order of preference changes slightly each time I make this list but not much. You should also look for the post about the "crossdresser haven" (I think that was the title).

1. San Francisco
2. Amsterdam. Fabulous town. Great culture. Weather is iffy. Not the cleanest place Ive ever been.
3. New Orleans. Fabulous town and food but way too hot in the summer
3. Province Town, Ma. Great town, very small and the weather never really gets warm enough.
4. Key West. Great town but very small. Tourists can be annoying
5, NYC. I liked it but could never live there more than a few months
6. Anywhere in Thailand. But it's always hot
7. London.
8. Any city over 1 million people that isn't in a radical religious part of the world.

That being said, I hate large cities. One of the reasons I tend to live elsewhere and move when I get bored. If you are looking for an accepting place with lots to do though stay with a large city.

[Kitty Sue]

Again, thanks to all of you ladies. I do like the sounds of SF but does seem to be out of my price range the more I look at it. Portland sounds nice and I have family in Washington State. Maybe I should look more into Portland.

I am still looking at Europe which maybe an option if I can get the job I am after.

[SweetCaroline]

Come to Massachusetts and you have several options ranging from big city to small town.

I'm surprised Boston/ Cambridge hasn't been mentioned yet, since it's not only home to a thriving GLBT community, they also have specific city ordnances protecting "gender expression".

There's also North Hampton in Western MA, one of my favorite areas (the Pioneer Valley). A very progressive area, home to several major colleges. I've never had any problems there presenting en femme, even tho it's primarily a Lesbian friendly community, and transgendered around North Hampton is more likely to be FTM.

But as a personal aside, another reason I like North Hampton is because few T-girl friends and I made the front page of the local paper last spring for their first ever New England Trans-Pride March that was held there. :)

[Carol Elizabeth]

Is it my imagination, or is the best place to crossdress is anywhere one doesn't live?

CE

[Lawren]

I know most of you would not think of Augusta, Maine as a city because of its minute size but I have had no trouble there yet. Keep in mind that I do do not wear dresses/skirts there yet but I do wear nice femme tops and jewelry and have yet to be confronted by anyone. Also, I cannot tell you what the "night life" is like there. I have gotten no worse than some strange looks and stares from people there. Nor Have I had any problems shopping there. Some of you Maine ladies may want to try it out.