 thumb|gay village in le marais, paris thumb|gay village in schÃ¶neberg, berlin thumb|gay village in soho, london   a gay village (also known as a gay neighborhood, gayvenue, gay ghetto, gay district, gay mecca or gayborhood) is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries, where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) people live or frequent. gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establishments, such as gay bars and pubs, nightclubs, bathhouses, restaurants, boutiques and bookstores. among the most famous gay villages are london's soho, manchester's canal street, new york's chelsea, san francisco's castro, berlin's schÃ¶neberg and le marais in paris. in north america also los angeles county's west hollywood, philadelphia's gayborhood, washington d.c.'s dupont circle, chicago's boystown, montreal's le village, houston's montrose, san diego's hillcrest, san jose's st leo neighborhood. such areas may represent a lgbt-friendly oasis in an otherwise hostile city, or may simply have a high concentration of gay residents and/or businesses. much as other urbanized groups, some lgbt people have managed to utilize their spaces as a way to reflect their cultural value and serve the special needs of individuals in relation to society at large. today, these neighborhoods can typically be found in the upscale or trendy parts of town like in manhattan, chosen for aesthetic or historic value, no longer resulting from the sociopolitical ostracization and the constant threat of physical violence from homophobic individuals that originally motivated these communities to live together for their mutual safety. however, these neighborhoods are also often found in working-class parts of the city, or in the neglected fringe of a downtown area&nbsp;â communities which may have been upscale historically but became economically depressed and socially disorganized. in these cases, the establishment of a lgbt community may eventually turn these areas into more expensive neighborhoods, a process known as gentrification&nbsp;â a phenomenon in which lgbt peop
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