What do you think is best for a poor just coming out gay guy in his 30s trying to escape the things that come with street life. I am also more interested in older people than people my own age. Afaik there is no place for me.
I fully assume I’ll end up homeless but I have to leave.
I’m open to other areas too. Definitely away from north east/new England. Preferably away from East Coast… Preferably near the ocean or a good lake… I don’t want to be stuck in crime or around homophobes.
Portland, OR?
Los Angeles is great. Col is high, but wages are generally relatively high as well. Col in the high desert area is much lower.
If you can get a 15$/hr job (minimum wage in CA is 15) and rent a room somewhere nearby for 500 bucks, you can do pretty well for yourself if you budget your money.
ABQ is not quite Wild West, but you do need to watch yourself there. Good farmers’ market and plenty of Native influence.
Columbus downtown seemed like a nice Midwestern spot, touch of Rust Belt, heavy on Buckeye mania of course. Seemed really quiet when I visited many summers ago.
Have you considered Chicago? Boystown is a great neighborhood. Kinda wished I’d lived there even though I’m not LGBTQ. I think it’s still relatively low crime. But I’m sure you’ll want to do (or have done) your own homework on that.
I kinda of thought about Chicago. I’m trying to stay away from the bigger cities for now. Even Cleveland OH.
Columbus is a bigger population than Cleveland. It’s kind of the bigger city these days.
I was going to say that if you want a lake then you want Cleveland, not Columbus. Also there is an inner suburb of Cleveland called Lakewood you should check out. It has a great LGBTQ+ scene (for a smaller city) and is super welcoming in that friendly midwestern way.
Columbus is a great little city in a not so great state. The local politics are quite progressive and the food and bar scene is quite nice. There was a decently sized queer community when I lived there a decade ago, and I’d expect it to continue to flourish as long as a major university is nearby.
Winters are cold. Summers are hot. The weather is what it is 🤷🏻♀️
