FEATURES

HIGH GEAR/MAY 1977

CLEVELAND'S GAY ENCLAVES

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DURI NG

JES

FLOWERS

Fui Buskas

dobama Theatre

Coventry Village in Cleveland Hts.

By Jerry Juszczyk

Cleveland, unlike other large cosmopolitan cities, spans a vast area encompassing all of Cuyahoga County. As such, there exists no one concentrated neighborhood where gays reside, but rather smaller pockets sprinkled in and around city limits. On the East Side, Cleveland Hts., west of Coventry and Shaker Square hold high appeal for gays; on the West Side, Ohio City and the Gold Coast Lakewood display visible clumpings of homophiles. What follows is a brief characterization of the environment and some attributes of residents in Cleveland's most. distinguished gay regions.

Lakewood's sparkling Gold Coast

CLEVELAND HTS.

COVENTRY

More than any other enclave of Greater Cleveland, Cleveland Hts. sports the artistic-bohemian style of a mini-Greenwich Village especially on the boutique strip of Coventry Rd. Selected as one of ten AllAmerican U.S. cities in 1976, the Heights contains a potpourri of diverse peoples and life styles. The community is racially integrated, has a significant portion of retirees, many professionals especially educators and subsequent aspiring students, cultural buffs, '70's molded "hippies," and gay people.

Gays who live here like apartment style living, but in smaller buildings. They are intimidated

by Bauhaus massiveness and prefer quainter buildings with close friends at hand. Architecturally, one can find everything from Ventian parquetry to Frank Loyd Wright villas; indeed, part of Heights' charm for gays are the elegant,. decorative apartments available.

The thickest cluster of lesbians in Cleveland can be found in Cleveland Heights. Glenmount Avenue, especially, has been dubbed "lesbian row," for a significant number of the city's women activists rent homes throughout the area.

Cleveland Heights also is the nearest community to Cleveland's prestigious University Circle, the megalopis of the arts, hosting the Cleveland Orchestra, the Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, the Case Western Reserve University, etc., etc. The Circle is within walking or biking distance for many Heights residents and is frequently patronized.

Film buffs find the Heights a mecca and an inexpensive one at that. The New Mayfield Repertory Cinema Theatre, The CWRU Film Society and the Cleveland International Film festivals at the Cedar-Lee Theatre offer continuous art flicks of high quality.

It is no secret that gays also view the Heights attractive because of its ordinance protecting gay people from employment, housing and public accommodations discrimination. Cleveland Hts. is only one of 39 communities nationally to have such a law on its books. This atmosphere was instrumental in the choice of the city as the home of the Gay Community Center of Cleveland.

Asked why he lives in Cleveland Hts., one gay citizen added, "I live here because it's chic, clean and safe without being fascistically exclusive."

SHAKER SQUARE

Gay people who like Williamsburg pomp or scaled down

chateau forontenac love Shaker

Square. If you want trolly cars, but can't live in San Francisco, Shaker Square has the next best thing, the RTA Rapid, intersecting its center. Not only that, the Rapid takes you farther than up and down a hill.

Shaker Hts., just beyond the Square, is one of the wealthiest communities in the U.S. Gay people who not only want to look rich, but are rich, feel at home and genuinely posh.. Shaker gays who aren't wealthy enjoy the "Am I really living here?" sensation.

Profesional gay people who live in and around Shaker Square like to be conservatively correct, ala Stouffer's Restaurant. Many collect antiques and pride themselves on their knowledge of art..

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The neighborhood is fortably mixed racially and is residential with many young families and college students. Its location is somewhat central

Shaker Square Scenario

to University. Circle, downtown and Chagrin Boulevard which in time might become Greater Cleveland's fifth gay enclave.

Shaker Square itself is a conglomerate of all one needs all in elegant shops. There is a Heinen's, a Hough Baker, a bank, a restaurant, a record store and Gilderstein's Book Store which has books you can't even get in New York.

Within easy walking distance, gays can frequent the Shaker Club, one of Cleveland's major discos. During the week, the upstairs bar area hosts residential gays which gives the Club a neighborhood feel.

OHIO CITY

The only gay area actually within Cleveland's city limits, just west of the Cuyahoga River, is the charming Ohio City block. Ohio City is not too far from home for many West Siders and surrounds St. Ignatius High School which has such superb Victorian architecture that it looks like a fairy castle. The

Pounding Lake Erie

equally exquisite West Side Market, which is a historical landmark, takes one back some thirty-odd years with its quaint produce stands. This chitectural Big Ben is an excellent source for gourmet cooking and within easy walking distance.

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Gays here are "rich Bohemians" who can afford to either buy or rent one of the homes and tend to be older and more established in their professions. The curious mixture of poorer, folksier people and upwardly mobile contemporary ones gives Ohio City a cosmopolitan flavor.

The restaurants in Ohio City are tres' chic. From the exciting menus and decor of The Market Street Exchange to the gourmet hamburger entrees at Hecks, there is a little something for everyone.

Ohio City has a humbler disposition than Cleveland Hts. and tends to have a look of '20's and '30's Americana. One can almost envision mixed Model T's parked on Market Street. Maintenance is easier here too as the west to east winds take the industrial pollution to the near East Side portion of town.

If you want to live in a relatively gay neighborhood close to, but not actually in downtown, Ohio City is worth investigating.

THE GOLD COAST LAKEWOOD

The Gold Coast appeals to some gays because of its New York Manhatten aura. With intriguing gold and blue lights glittering on Lake Erie, the giant apartment complexes give one a taste of big-city skyline exclusivity. The gay people who live here (and there are many)

The gays who live in Ohio City are interested in restoration and are settling into a heretofore poor neighborhood which Continued on Page 23

emanates promise and potential.