Most tolerant city in America (specifically), or elsewhere (generally)?

Portland Oregon is great! lived near there for all of my life and it is considered to be a "weird city" if you havent heard that yet. It has a very live and let live atmosphere, but as for weather it only gets into the 70s in the summer. It always seems to be raining or cold there, but a great place!

 

Based off of what you said, Austin and, from what I've heard about it, Portland sound great for you, though Austin gets tossed out because of your heat intolerance. That said, people can do whatever they want to here. Want to be a crossdressing homeless-by-choice guy that runs for mayor and gets votes un-ironically? You can take Leslie's place, may he rest in peace. Want to be the death metal guy with a neck beard, fedora, and humongous gages? Grab the table next to the yuppie fitness freak at the coffee shop, and you'll at least have a friendly conversation. Are you a geeky programmer? Cool, that redneck-looking guy that makes trash art and plays in a local grunge band might be a colleague at the company down the street from you.

I'm not even exaggerating with these examples. Today I saw a guy wearing a pink onesie at the grocery store. The goth girl riding a unicycle nearly ran into him in the parking lot, and that was the only reason I noticed either of them. That said, there's plenty of room for run-of-the-mill soccer moms and government workers as well, and most people don't really fit into a "weird" mold here. Nobody cares really.

 

A bit smaller scale, here. Of course I would put NYC and Austin up there as a good places, but Burlington, Vermont is very open to all kinds of people. You've got hippies, hipsters, skaters, hicks, crossdressers, the metalheads, health nuts, the sassy gays, you see EVERYTHING. It's just a very "whatever" city.

 

That's kind of true. It really is only one city block, literally, full of homeless people, drug addicts, mentally ill / unstable people, prostitutes... Really, though, the situation was likely played up. News media wants attention, and they can be willing to do anything to gain viewers, as I'm sure you know.

I'd say this, in its defense:

1. You (the general you, not you, OP, or you, Budder) shouldn't hang around that specific particular area at night. It can be dangerous, but there aren't many problems ('cause we don't have guns here for common folks?) for many people in the day.

2. All places generally have a 'ghetto'. Vancouver's problem arose when many mentally ill people were basically dumped onto the streets, without much rehabilitation efforts, in the 70's-90's. Things are getting better through charities and government work. Also, Vancouver's problem is that it's all so densely concentrated.

Therefore, if one liked Vancouver, and one wanted to live there, that particular area (East Hastings~) can be avoided and all. It's very much not relevant to many people. It's very unfortunate, and many of the people there have heart-wrenching stories (seen specific documentaries and first hand exp.), but it is what it is.

If OP liked Vancouver, I recommend visiting sometime again when there's not a pride parade (or, at least, I recommend spending some time in Vancouver when there is not a pride parade), to get a better sense of things.

 

Outside of Manhattan, you may find your green. I grew up in Coney Island, on the beach, most people dont associate beaches with NYC. Parts of Brooklyn and Queens are green and nice, Staten Island for the most part feels like youre not in even NYC. Roosevelt Island is also a nice place that feels so far out of the city in terms of the vibe.

 

I'm not going to try to hype it up too much since Portland is on your short list, but a visit might be in order. Austin has a unique situation that gives it the great vibe it does. It has the humongous flagship university of the state and more scenery than much of the state, so it has always attracted the intellectual and creative types that give it the "weird" feel that people like (like unveiling a statue of Willie Nelson on 4/20 or turning a bat colony under one of the main bridges in town into a tourist attraction), but the hive-mind that so many other liberal meccas have is tempered by the Texan vibe, and it evens out to an awesome laid-back libertarian feel overall, even out toward the suburbs and especially San Marcos. You can make the city pretty much whatever you want it to be for you as long as you tolerate others and don't mind seeing the occasional guy riding his bike in a thong or Jesus billboard on the freeway. (There are conservatives here, and they're a part of the milieu, though a relative minority.)

That said, it's a continuously changing city, and many West Coasters have moved here wanting it to be a cheaper version of where they came from, so some say it's being yuppified and gentrified. I don't have much to comment on this since I'm a newcomer myself, but even I've noticed this place getting larger on the cultural map in the short time I've been here. It hosted a major Formula 1 race last year, 20 mid- to highrises are on track to be built downtown in the next five or so years, and South by Southwest and Austin City Limits are getting bigger every year. That's to say it might be moving past its laid-back hippy days and toward who-knows-what.

 

I'm in the suburbs outside St Paul. The Twin Cities, at least in the urban areas, they're pretty chill. The ghettoey parts are a different story, but thats the ghetto. Although I have heard that LGBT people over in Mineapolis are really bitchy, to the point where they will completely exclude you if you don't fit the criteria for their cliques. Then again, I was at Target today, and a gaggle of gays were roaming the store, and literaly noone even looked at them twice. And I'm talking like, one of them had a dog in his purse while talking on speakerphone and nobody even cared. But my suburb is supremely chill. Maybe while you're looking for laid back cities, keep an eye/ear out for specific neighborhoods that just don't give a fuck. A city isn't a collective, so just cuz you move to the most relaxed city ever doesn't mean all your neighbors won't be intolerable douchebags.

I'm drunk and rambly, I'll stop typing now lol.

 

FWIW, I didn't really feel much of an anti-smoker (or anti-anything) vibe from Seattle.
And a lot of people here keep throwing out NYC, but my impression is that they're pretty liberal -- to the point where someone who has any libertarian/conservative views might be an outcast.
I'd throw Denver into the hat as well -- pretty LGBT friendly, plenty of stuff to do, all types of people.

 

I don't know about most of the EU, but the UK is notorious for how easy to make it in. I've been to all of the above places but one, and they are all incredibly beautiful. To be honest, I've had many opportunities to go to America but I've just never wanted to. There's a stigma here regarding America and its per-state elections of human rights, among other things. It just seems insane to us.

Anyway, you don't need corporate sponsorship to get into the UK. You need to file an immigration form, which is very easy for native English speakers, and you need to have at least high school qualifications. A friend of mine works at the office and has never actually rejected someone for immigration.

 

Well, as a European, I can mention some European cities that are very liberal and gay friendly: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Amsterdam, London are all great places to live in as a gay person and are generally very very liberal in terms of politics. However, the queen of European cities in terms of gayness is by FAR Barcelona. Never in my life have I seen so many gay couples holding hands in public, it was almost a shock (pleasant one of course). I am pretty sure that LGBT people there are way more than 10% of the population Plus, they are hosting one of the biggest pride events in Europe, millions of people attend every year.

 

FWIW, I would stay away from liberal towns in otherwise socially conservative states. Since LGBT is not a protected category under federal law, to have any sort of protection against discrimination in employment, housing, or even being refused service at places of public accommodation, you need to live somewhere that makes it illegal under state law. I personally won't live somewhere I can get fired for being gay. I would also consider whether the status of same sex marriage in the state. I.e., if the state doesn't recognize same sex marriage, are there equivalents like civil unions? Is SSM affirmatively banned? Those things are more important than just getting married, they also bear on whether you and a future long term partner can access benefits like being on each others' health insurance, taking state family leave if one of you gets sick, and a whole host of other things.

 

I find this interesting, because I understand. One of the things I don't like about some "open" cities is that it also means the bigots know where to find us.

My guess would be to go to a historically friendly city. What I mean is look to places that have been open for a long time - I think that sometimes, the "new" cities aren't as good with being open to everyone. It kind of becomes set on one type of group. I would be the well-dressed gay anti-smoker. Places like NYC Or San Fran just don't care what you do!