In a piece about how San Francisco's Castro district won't be the place for dressing up like Larry Craig tonight, the New York Times says gay enclaves are becoming less fabulous. The local angle:

In West Hollywood, another traditional gay haven, the graying of the population and the high cost of real estate have resulted in once-gay watering holes like the Spike and the I Candy Lounge going hetero. A new kind of gentrification is under way in which young gay waiters and school teachers move instead to Hollywood and other surrounding neighborhoods. “We often clamored for equality where gay and straight could coexist,” said Mayor John Duran of West Hollywood, who is gay. “But we weren’t prepared to give up our subculture to negotiate that exchange.”

Far as I know, Santa Monica Boulevard will still be packed for Halloween — with a very mixed crowd.