There’s the Castro in San Francisco, Northalsted — also known as Boystown — in Chicago and the West Village in New York City. For decades, these famous enclaves have offered inclusive spaces that cater to the LGBTQ community, offering them a place to live, work and play.
Even if you don’t live near one of these hotspots there are still plenty of Gayborhoods to explore in your own backyard here in Florida. In the Central Florida and Tampa Bay areas, there are several neighborhoods of note: The Grand Central District in St. Petersburg, GaYbor in Tampa, and The Mills 50 District and The Milk District in Orlando.
We take a look at these local Gayborhoods, how they’ve grown and changed over the years, and what’s in store for them down the road.
THE GRAND CENTRAL DISTRICT, ST. PETERSBURG
Even before the Grand Central District was formalized, local business owners and St. Petersburg leaders recognized the potential for the area that would become the city’s preeminent LGBTQ neighborhood and the birthplace of St Pete Pride – the state’s largest LGBTQ-focused celebration – in 2003.
Local realtor, GayStPete House owner and St Pete Pride co-founder Brian Longstreth recalls the city’s original vision for the area in the late 90s: Central Avenue Tomorrow.
“Before it was ever the Grand Central District, part of the plan was to increase density to help retailers with more pedestrian foot traffic,” he says.
By 2001, the Grand Central District was founded and focused on the goals of Central Avenue Tomorrow, including building up the area’s residential base and drawing new businesses to the area while supporting those that already existed.
Longstreth says the district was “on the cusp” of attracting more residential developments when the 2007 recession hit. This derailed much of the work previously done. Years later, “now the developers are coming in,” he says.
Some big projects have popped up in the eastern section of the district, including the Artistry St. Pete, Vantage St. Pete and 1701 Central. There are also projects on the district’s western edge near the Grand Central Bus Station, Driftwood on Central and even across from the former Georgie’s Alibi, the defunct LGBTQ hotspot.
“A lot of our empty lots are being scarfed up and residential units are being planned,” David Foote, executive director of the Grand Central District Association explains. “That’s going to really reshape the district when you have all these residents living on Central Avenue.”
The district has also welcomed a number of new businesses in recent years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout that crisis, the district “didn’t really lose any businesses,” Foote says, only “older businesses” that couldn’t transition easily in this digital world, such as Brown’s Trophy’s and an upholstery shop.
And every week he fields questions about the fate of Haslam’s Bookstore, which has been “closed over a year with no word about what’s going on,” he adds.
Longstreth says the mix of businesses remains varied, as well.
“One of the things I’ve always appreciated about the Grand Central District has been the larger diversity of businesses for a small district,” he says. “You have home decor, antiques, professional services and a lot of bars and restaurants now.”
The area still retains its LGBTQ identity as home to numerous bars catering to the community: Punky’s Bar & Grill, Lucky Star Lounge and the Garage.
The new LGBTQ-focused bar Cocktail – located across the street from two other new businesses, Grand Central Brewing and Hatchet Hangout, as well as Dog Bar, the LGBTQ-friendly staple – has been a game changer since it opened in May.
“Everything has kind of been moving forward and then you inject a business like Cocktail and that just shows you there’s an LGBTQ market that still wants a gay bar, that still wants to go to a place of their own,” Foote says. “Now the block’s been completely brought to life in the midst of COVID.”
Cocktail owner David Fischer was compelled to open his upscale bar in the heart of the Grand Central District because of the area’s history as a gayborhood.
“The concept was created because I thought there was a need to have a nicer bar that catered to the LGBTQ community than what was currently being offered in the Tampa Bay area. An elevated cocktail experience was missing,” he says. “Grand Central, I felt, was the right place to put it … to me, it has been known as more of the gayer area of the city and from a business perspective, it made sense to put it there.”
In the same building, at 2355 Central Ave., he plans to renovate the original Mara Jean Hotel to create an LGBTQ boutique hotel. He will also open a pool bar called the Wet Spot to the side of the property.
Cocktail aside, all businesses in the district are LGBTQ-friendly and a lot of the ownership and management are part of the LGBTQ community, Foote notes. “We could easily say we’re the biggest LGBTQ destination in the city of St. Pete.”
With a range of businesses slated to open, from Mutts & Martinis (a doggy water park with a full bar) to ParBar (a mini golf-themed bar), he expects the district will maintain its reputation as the gayest part of the city.
“We are kind of the Castro Street of St. Pete, if you will, and we’re proud to wear that badge. If you’re not agreeing with that, then don’t move to the district,” Foote says. “We’re the epicenter, the LGBTQ destination for entertainment and places that cater to that audience. And we’re not afraid to say, ‘Here’s what we are. We own this,’ to just capitalize on it and let businesses come in and build up around that as much as makes sense for them.”
For more information about the Grand Central District, visit GrandCentralDistrict.org.
The GAYBOR DISTRICT, TAMPA
In 2007, a group of LGBTQ business owners in Ybor City joined forces to form the GaYbor District and to promote what they already knew: the Historic District was the gayest part of Tampa.
At its height, Ybor City was home to many LGBTQ-owned and LGBTQ-friendly bars, restaurants and shops catering to the community, says Walter Giovanni, GaYbor’s newly elected president. Now, it’s down to just two bars, Southern Nights and Bradley’s, both located on the district’s infamous 7th Avenue.
While many establishments have come and gone in the district, Ybor City faced two major hits in recent years. The first came in late 2018, when Hamburger Mary’s Tampa, the drag-themed bar and restaurant that operated in Centro Ybor, shut its doors for good. The other major loss was more recent, when the Honey Pot dance club closed, a casualty of the pandemic.
“COVID really did play a huge role in, you know, why certain businesses could not survive, especially with mandates regarding occupancy. A lot of business owners couldn’t sustain it,” Giovanni says.
Even before the pandemic, though, the loss of LGBTQ businesses was a trend in Ybor City.
“Back in the days of GaYbor there were more LGBTQ owners invested in Ybor City,” Giovanni says. “Pride was an economic booster back in its day. The LGBTQ community was an economic engine.”
The LGBTQ community is still “injected into this district,” he adds, which is why GaYbor is working hard to rebrand itself as an organization and Ybor City as a whole.
“We want to be more active in the community,” he notes. “We want to remind LGBTQ visitors that Ybor City is a safe space to visit in Tampa. And we want to build up leadership. We want the youth to be our new LGBTQ leaders.
“I’m an old queen and I don’t want to do this forever,” he muses. “I want to create a blueprint and a roadmap for people to follow long after I’m gone.”
A big piece of GaYbor’s work is educating business owners in the district, he explains. “We want to educate our allies, teach them to be more inclusive and show them that how when they open up their businesses to the LGBTQ community, it’s profitable.”
He nods to Reservoir Bar as an example of successful allyship. “They’re a huge ally and they’re such a staple here,” Giovanni says.
He’s also hopeful that on the other side of the pandemic more LGBTQ-owned businesses will move to Ybor City.
“Our district goes in waves. Ybor has its ups and dry spells. It’s really about the movement of the crowd,” he says. “But the spirit of diversity and inclusivity is still alive in Ybor City.”
The recent loss of the Honey Pot was “heartbreaking,” he adds. But he’s hopeful that anchor business could return to the district. He says that he’s heard the owners of Honey Pot “are still looking, so we hope to see them again soon.”
The return of Tampa Pride in May was also a step in the right direction for Ybor City to retain its reputation as the city’s LGBTQ district, Giovanni says. It was a needed event following such a difficult year.
“There was just an energy at Tampa Pride and seeing all those rainbow flags gives you that feeling of ‘OK, we’re back,’” he says. “It was that comeback we needed and all the businesses were ecstatic. That energy of acceptance and commonality, that synergy was there. It gave us the sign that Ybor is back.”
It can only mean big things for Ybor City moving forward.
“The magic is still here,” he says. “It’s all about creating that space. We like having our allies be diverse and inclusive, but LGBTQ-owned businesses are still necessary. Diversity breeds more diversity, though, so events like Pride and having allies in the community will hopefully attract some more LGBTQ owners to invest in Ybor City again. For now, we’re out there changing minds.”
For more information about the GaYbor District, visit Facebook.com/GaYborDistrictCoalition.
THE MILK DISTRICT, ORLANDO
A preeminent gayborhood and cultural hub, the Milk District got its start as “an informal gathering of businesses who identified the area,” Zac Alfson, the district’s executive director says. In 2018, the Milk District – named for the presence of T.G. Lee Dairy in the area – formalized through the Main Street America Institute.
Long before this, the area had been considered a haven for the LGBTQ community thanks to serving as the home for the iconic Southern Nights Orlando. The nightclub served the community for decades before closing in the mid-2000s. It reopened in 2014, taking over the space that once housed RBARR Discotek & Cocktail Boutique and, before that, Revolution Nightclub.
Southern Nights has long served as “a cornerstone institution for us,” Alfson said. Another staple in this area is also Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria, which has been open for more than 15 years.
“It’s a late-night place people head to after the club and there are things on the menu that are LGBTQ-related,” he says. “It’s long been a place where the LGBTQ community is welcome.”
But he could easily say the same about every business in the district, he adds. “Just about every business, with a couple of exceptions, are very welcoming and very safe.”
The district is “more than gay-friendly,” Alfson adds. In a recent survey of more than 350 business owners and leaders in the community, he says that 97 respondents – just under 30% – said they considered themselves part of the LGBTQ community.
He does advise that the district doesn’t intentionally position itself as a gayborhood. “A lot of what we do is very organic,” he explains. “We don’t want to position ourselves as being the grand wizard over all things. There’s really not any organization around it, but we support all our businesses and individuals in doing what they’re doing.”
Its identity as an LGBTQ hotspot is fully embraced, though. There’s some public art honoring the late gay leader Harvey Milk. The district also sells a Pride-themed T-shirt through its online shop.
Coming out of the pandemic, the Milk District is still going strong. Businesses in the community rallied to support one another as they shifted gears and tried to survive.
“We have a number of legacy businesses that have been open 40 or 50 years and a lot of new businesses. We had businesses that were only open a couple of months or a year before this pandemic started for them,” Alfson says.
“They were just getting their operations solidified and getting their feet under them when this all came,” he continues. “I think the community really supported those business, and the district in general, and kept them alive.”
At the heart of the community are its LGBTQ bars, Southern Nights Orlando, Southern Craft and District Dive. But there’s a wide range of businesses in the area from arts-oriented initiatives to restaurants to service-oriented establishments.
There’s been some growth and movement in the district as well, as Etoile Boutique, which sells vintage and unique pieces – including some by local queer makers – expanded its footprint in the last year, Alfson says.
Other new businesses include Mosaic Salon and Club Hollywoof Doggie Daycare & Boarding. Next month, Milhouse, a shared space with a number of well-known local food and drink spots will open. And a favorite food truck in the area, Chicken Fire, will plant roots by opening a brick-and-mortar space in the district.
For some business owners, the district’s LGBTQ identity is a major draw.
Brett Barbour and his husband started Club Hollywoof out of their home. As business grew, they knew they’d need to find a dedicated space for their services. They found the perfect space and opened during the pandemic.
Barbour said he couldn’t imagine moving their business anywhere else. He says “I love being in more of a gayborhood … You have more support from the community.”
He enjoys the area so much that as he and his husband look for a new home, they’re checking out houses on the market in the Milk District.
“We love it here. It’s more like suburbia outside a regular city. It’s not so right smack dab in the middle of the city,” Barbour says. “But there’s so much art and it’s so walkable. There are so many businesses. Everything you need is right here. And it’s gay-friendly. Even the straight business owners have Pride flags.”
For more information about the Milk District, visit TheMilkDistrict.org.
THE MILLS 50 DISTRICT, ORLANDO
Long before the Mills 50 District was the Mills 50 District, it was often referred to as the ViMi District, a nod to the area’s Vietnamese community, George Wallace, executive director of The Center Orlando says.
The area has long been known for its LGBTQ community. “When I moved here in 2002, it was kind of cool moving from a small rural town in New Hampshire and coming down and seeing rainbow flags, even back then,” Wallace says.
The Center moved into its current location in the district in 1999. There was also a gay bookstore and video store, as well as other LGBTQ businesses.
“It was a really colorful, fun neighborhood,” Wallace recalls. “It still is, but things have changed. Now it’s a super queer-friendly neighborhood. And we’re very proud to have The Center here in the heart of Mills 50.”
For more than two decades, The Center has called the area home, serving as a cornerstone for the LGBTQ community. “We’ve always been pretty prominent. We have one of the largest footprints as far as buildings go,” he says. “When you’re driving down Mills Avenue, we fly the Progress flag 365 days a year. We’re this bright yellow building that you really can’t miss.”
The Center’s presence certainly influenced the types of businesses that opened in the area, he adds, noting that “it’s great to see people of every color of the rainbow flag congregating around The Center.”
There are numerous LGBTQ business owners in Mills 50 these days, Joanne Grant, the district’s executive director, says. Eddie Nickell and Nick Olivieri, a culinary power couple, have owned and operated numerous businesses over the years. They currently own Bites & Bubbles and before that, owned Funkey Monkey and Bananas Diner.
It also hosts Zebra Coalition, a nonprofit that provides short-term housing to LGBTQ youth ages 18 to 24, as well as other services and resources. And, of course, the district is represented by Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, the city’s first openly gay commissioner.
Though Mills 50 lost Ritzy Rags, a wig shop, in April 2020 when the business, which called district home for about 30 years, moved to the College Park area, a number of new businesses moved in during the pandemic, Grant says.
“We had probably eight or 10 new businesses open, which was pretty amazing, and they’re all doing well,” she explains. “We only had one business close, and it wasn’t because of the pandemic.”
Among the new businesses are Lacastro Store, Out of the Closet, Java J’s Café, the House on Lang boutique, Eleanor’s Barber Shop, Boutiq Medical Clinic, Matcha House Tea & Creamery, Single Orchid Tattoo and a cell phone shop. A highly anticipated business in the works is Pour Choice, a self-serve taproom that will be opening soon.
“I think that’s pretty impressive to have businesses open during a pandemic and do well,” she says.
Mills 50 fully embraces its identity as a gayborhood, Grant adds.
Banners recognizing Pride Month are hung throughout the district and a Love Wins T-shirt is available through the Mills 50 shop online.
The district also had one of the LGBTQ-themed murals on the side of The Center refreshed and facilitated the painting of a new mural on the building.
In addition, the district is known as an arts and foodie destination. Grant notes that public art can be found throughout the area and its wide range of restaurants cater to every tastebud.
“There are so many amazing restaurants, all owned by local owners,” she says. “We’ve got everything: Asian, Cuban, Mexican, Mediterranean. You name it; we’ve got it.”
That’s because Mills 50 is booming, she says. Between its reputation as a diverse gayborhood, a foodie hotspot and a haven for the arts, every day she answers calls from businesses that want to move into the district.
“We’re very lucky. I have people calling all the time, saying, ‘We want to locate our business in Mills 50. Can you help me?’” she says. “It’s a good problem to have.”
For more information about the Mills 50 District, visit Mills50.org.
