Gay exec in late 40s moving to SEA...advice on love life & places to live? (Seattle: fit in, buying a house)

[AustinGypsy]

OK, so after reading about the Seattle Freeze ad nauseum, I thought I would put a twist to it and ask those here in the "know".

Here's my situation:
Moving to SEA in the next few years to work for the Coffee folks, from my beloved Austin. I'm a single gay man in my late 40s who has multiple degrees in many fields, am an executive with a quick mind, a true native Texan (think Ann Richards), and am an avowed Democrat. The environment, animal rights, and GLBT equality are issues to which I am very passionate. I do have a real accent that I don't try to hide, and I believe in being myself in every way. Don't wear my sexuality (or anything) on my sleeve--try to be easygoing and find the fun in everything. LOVE to be outdoors as much as I can and am very choosy on where I would work.

I don't think I'll have issues with living there, based on the above, and all the times I've been there I've found everyone to be nice. OF course, that's not the same as living there, but I am curious.

What would it be like, for someone in my situation? I'm not the type to go to bars all that often, but I do love live music (see "Austin" above) and being entertained. What's it like for 40-something gay men, who also like mixed crowds too? Is the GLBT scene cliquish like it is in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc.?

And then, where would be a great place to live? I was thinking an older house in Capitol Hill...have been looking at a few that look great. I could swing $600-$700M, I think. Would prefer to NOT drive if I could help it.

OK, that's enough for now...just wanted to make my case, sit back and find out what you guys thought. Thanks for your replies.

[Ira500]

An old house on Capitol Hill could be a good choice, but if you don't want to be right in all the hubbub of Capitol Hill and want things a little quieter, you'll want too look east of Broadway and north of maybe Harrison or Republican Streets on Capitol Hill? Depends on how urban you want it.
Nice old houses within Seattle where a 40 something gay coffee executive would not feel at all out of place would also include neighborhoods like Columbia City, Madrona, Mount Baker, Ballard, Wallingford, Greenlake etc.
Seattle's got a lot of outdoor recreation, and is full of people from all over.
I'm an "invader" from New Jersey who has been here for going on 35 years. I'm not going to say that the Seattle freeze is or isn't real, but I haven't felt it. People are less in your face like they are in New York or ebullient like they are in Texas, they tend to be a bit more reserved and relaxed, a little more mellow.

[vandygirl]

I can't really speak for the experience of a 40 something gay male being a 30 something straight female but maybe I can help on the location questions. Thursday through Saturday night Capital Hill is really jumping around Broadway and Pine. Avoid houses within a few blocks of the main streets if you want to avoid the club culture. As far as making a home I prefer Madrona. It is very diverse but also family oriented with a gay friendly atmosphere. I visited St. Therese there which is the most gay friendly church I've seen since Glide Memorial in SF. (The ministers asked married and gay committed couples to stand and when they did so the congregation applauded them.) Both Capital Hill is easy to traverse by bus. Madrona is more tucked away but bus stops are within walking distance.

I also like Wallingford as a progressive and trendy area where the residents are not quite so young. It has the feel of a neighborhood where college grads settled in. It is a busy neighborhood (packed with cars) but it is not overrun by club goers. The only thing I don't like about Wallingford is that it is a little bit out of the way if you are coming from downtown. The commute by bus can be long going north of Queen Anne and Magnolia.

[Inkpoe]

With your "situation", it sounds like you'd be a perfect fit for Seattle. However, I would caution about buying a house in Capitol Hill, there are other areas that could work as well (and probably for less money too).

I know one thing about the GLBT scene here is that it's "young" and it's concentrated in Capitol Hill. There also been articles about the "older" GLBT folks (really, anyone older than 20s) starting to move away from Capitol Hill (this being one of them: There Goes the Gayborhood - Page 1 - News - Seattle - Seattle Weekly ).

[AustinGypsy]

All--thanks all for the pointers on neighborhoods. I'm not married by any means to C-H, but wanted something "authentic" with the patina of age but still well cared-for. I've always lived in 1930s-1940s houses and that's really what I was looking for. Mixed neighborhoods are also what I wanted, too. Didn't mean to imply I wanted a gay ghetto (don't). Madrona sounds like a great fit. I don't want to be too far away from the central city. I have friends who live in Madison Park & I really liked it. Reminded me of Hyde Park or Travis Heights in Austin.

Any other pointers, don't hesitate to pass them on. Appreciate it a lot.


What's the most progressive Episcopalian church? That's usually a good sign/tipoff, and I'm Episcopalian, too (when I go...every few months). St Marks Cathedral?

[vandygirl]

Originally Posted by AustinGypsy

What's the most progressive Episcopalian church? That's usually a good sign/tipoff, and I'm Episcopalian, too (when I go...every few months). St Marks Cathedral?

St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Lower Queen Anne claims to be progressive although I haven't visited. Maybe someone else on this board has. If so I hope they will chime in.

[tobester]

As mentioned above, St. Therese in Madrona is one of the most progressive Catholic churches you'll find. Gay friendly, very diverse (economically and culturally), 11 am mass has a gospel choir ...

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by AustinGypsy

All--thanks all for the pointers on neighborhoods. I'm not married by any means to C-H, but wanted something "authentic" with the patina of age but still well cared-for. I've always lived in 1930s-1940s houses and that's really what I was looking for. Mixed neighborhoods are also what I wanted, too. Didn't mean to imply I wanted a gay ghetto (don't). Madrona sounds like a great fit. I don't want to be too far away from the central city. I have friends who live in Madison Park & I really liked it. Reminded me of Hyde Park or Travis Heights in Austin.

Any other pointers, don't hesitate to pass them on. Appreciate it a lot.


What's the most progressive Episcopalian church? That's usually a good sign/tipoff, and I'm Episcopalian, too (when I go...every few months). St Marks Cathedral?

St. Marks is well known as being a progressive parish, and had a gay dean, Robert Taylor, from 1999-2007.
Madrona has the Epiphany Episcopal parish, in addition to the nearby Catholic St. Therese.
I wouldn't suggest avoiding Capitol Hill. I'd just suggest avoiding those parts of the neighborhood that are full of noisy younger people.
...And has the Mount Baker neighborhood been mentioned? The light rail has a stop there, and just a few blocks east the neighborhood is very nice, with some very cool old houses. There's not quite as much retail as there is in Madrona( there's just a little, on Mt. Baker Blvd/McLellan and on 31st), but there's at least as much Olmstead design influence on the streets and parks.

[SitoUK]

Originally Posted by vandygirl

I can't really speak for the experience of a 40 something gay male being a 30 something straight female but maybe I can help on the location questions. Thursday through Saturday night Capital Hill is really jumping around Broadway and Pine. Avoid houses within a few blocks of the main streets if you want to avoid the club culture.

I wouldn't totally agree on that. I live two blocks away from the 'jumping' part of Broadway and it's perfectly fine. Neither can I hear any party noise during the night nor are there hords of clubbers raving through my street...all the opposite really...it's actually very quiet and pleasant...but I still can go and walk in 5 minutes to a place that is full of bars and restaurants, great location. Just don't expect to find an on-street parking space on the weekend....I would probably try and avoid living directly on Broadway or Pike Pine but anywhere just off these areas is no problem at all.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by AustinGypsy

All--thanks all for the pointers on neighborhoods. I'm not married by any means to C-H, but wanted something "authentic" with the patina of age but still well cared-for. I've always lived in 1930s-1940s houses and that's really what I was looking for. Mixed neighborhoods are also what I wanted, too. Didn't mean to imply I wanted a gay ghetto (don't). Madrona sounds like a great fit. I don't want to be too far away from the central city. I have friends who live in Madison Park & I really liked it. Reminded me of Hyde Park or Travis Heights in Austin.

Any other pointers, don't hesitate to pass them on. Appreciate it a lot.

I wasn't trying to imply that CH is a gay ghetto (its not)... just pointing out there other neighborhoods that would fit in with what you want and perhaps for less money. I see Ira mentioned Mt. Baker. I'd throw in Georgetown, Columbia City and West Seattle. Mt. Baker and Columbia City both have Light rail going to the City and the airport. Georgetown and W. Seattle have a lot buses going to Seattle DT.