89121, the zip code encompassing a region about five miles east of the Las Vegas strip, is, with 61 “fake-married” same-sex couples, Nevada’s gayest neighborhood. So certainly with the high concentration of dude-loving-dudes and lady-loving-ladies, it must be a fantasy land of Jonathan Adler stores and quaint cafes, right?
“The 89121, as hipsters would call it if any lived here, is an east-of-Strip ZIP bounded by Sahara and Tropicana from Eastern Avenue to Nellis Boulevard,” writes Steve Friess, a gay. “It’s dominated by apartment buildings, condos and townhouses, and has precious few fabulous houses — unless you count the monstrosity that ex-Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren concocted. We’ve got the Regency Tropicana Cinemas, where movies are $1 on Tuesdays, a Hispanic grocery that replaced the Vons a few years ago, and a Las Vegas Athletic Club that the gays don’t much like because the one in 89109 is open 24 hours. The only dining worth mentioning is Lindo Michoacan, and the only thing considered funky or artsy is ReJAVAnate Coffee, which recently closed, having slid downhill years ago after its original — gay! — owners sold it. There is a gay bar, the Las Vegas Eagle, where you’re encouraged to show up in your underwear after 10 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays.”
Well that sounds … fabulous. And when the 2010 Census data is revealed, we’re sure it’ll reveal a whole crop of heteros have moved in on our turf.
