The Advocate, March 27, 2007 - "Where We Live" The 10 Best Places to Live

As the country opens its arms to openly gay and lesbian people, the places we call home have grown beyond urban gay ghettos. The Advocate welcomes you to this new American landscape....

Most of the gay people I spoke with for this story said they still value a strong gay culture, but ethnic diversity, good jobs, low crime rates, abundant natural beauty, and a never-ending stream of things to do are equally if not more important. Many also want good public schools where they will be accepted as parents. "We're raising two African-American kids and no one even bats an eye," says San Diego resident Tim Mulligan, 39, an attorney who is raising a 7-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter with his partner, Sean Murphy, 43. "We live in a white neighborhood and we're sending our kids to a public school. A lot of times we are the only same-sex parents [at school events]. The school thinks it's great. The sports teams think it's great. It's been awesome. San Diego is a beautiful place to raise kids."

From Ithaca, N.Y., to Missoula, Mont., gay residents praise a small-town feel even before mentioning how gay-friendly their cities might be. A great place to live is self-contained, with little congestion, they say, but has enough big-city amenities to prevent the need for routine travel. "There are things going on all over town," says Brett Gambill, 27, a gay fourth-grade teacher who lives in Columbus, Ohio. "It's a great city. It's not too big. Everything is 20 minutes away. But it's big enough that you don't feel like you're stuck in Middle America."

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Here's what The Advocate says about Ithaca!

If you're driving through downtown Ithaca, you won't miss Ithaca falls, a stunningly beautiful waterfall on the edge of the city. It's just one of the many natural wonders in this outdoor-oriented college town in upstate New York.

On your drive through the city you might also see a bumper sticker that says ITHACA is GORGES. Or another that reads ITHACA is 10 SQUARE MILES SURROUNDED BY REALITY. "Its an hour to anywhere big," says Jason Hungerfard, 29, a Web developer who lives with his partner of eight years, Jason Seymour, 30. "But Ithaca has everything you need." That includes a downtown pedestrian mall known as the Commons with a dense mix of small shops, ethnic restaurants, trendy bookstores, and coffeehouses. "You can walk on the street and hold your partner's hand and it doesn't even get a look," says Hungerford. While there's no LGBT center, the gay bar Common Ground hosts many community events.

The presence of Cornell University and Ithaca College, accounting for about half the city's residents, might have something to do with the city's gay-friendly nature. "It's not a gay Utopia, but it's the closest I've found so far," says Maureen Kelly, 36, vice president of education and training for Planned Parenthood for the Ithaca area, who lives with her partner of 12 years, us Maurer, 42, an LGBT coordinator at Ithaca College. (The large population of students makes the city's median income figure skew low.)

POPULATION: 30,566

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME: $24,796

MEDIAN HOUSE COST: $228,300

GAY PUBLIC OFFICIALS: Kathy Luz Herrera, Tompkins County legislator; Shane Seger, city council member: Gwen Wilkinson, district attorney

PRO-GAY LAWS OR PUBLIC POLICIES: Human rights ordinance includes sexual orientation and gender expression; domestic-partner registry

When 50 gay and lesbian couples from Ithaca challenged the state's ban on same-sex marriage in 2004, the city government publicly supported them. "I've always heard that small college towns are very progressive," says Hungerford, who was a member of the Ithaca 50." That's certainly true of Ithaca."

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