By FRANK KUMMER and BILL SHRALOW

Courier-Post Staff    

The PATCO Hi-Speedline has shuttled professionals

between Philadelphia and South Jersey for decades, but in

recent years it has transported another community with

regularity.

Census figures released today offer the strongest data yet that a significant

portion of South Jersey's gay community has clustered along the train's tracks in

Collingswood, Haddonfield and Haddon Township. Nearby Haddon Heights is

another favorite town.

All those communities ranked in the top 10 tri-county areas where gay couples

have settled, according to the best available data from the 2000 Census.

Camden, also on the Hi-Speedline circuit, Maple Shade and Deptford were

among other popular areas for gay couples. Many gays say Camden's Fairview

section was once a popular place to live, but has become less so because of its

perceived decline.

Overall, same-sex couples accounted for one-half of 1 percent of all households

in the tri-county area.

Jim Nott, 54, moved to South Jersey from central central Pennsylvania,

bypassing Philadelphia for the greener blocks of Collingswood, a community of

14,000. He shares a home on Collings Avenue with a longtime partner.

"People are friendly. You walk down the street and they say, `Hi,'" Nott says. "You

don't get that everywhere."

Collingswood had the highest percentage of same-sex partner households. In

fact, the data confirm what gays have known for some time: Collingswood's

resurgent downtown, parks and affordable neighborhoods have made it a popular

place for gay couples and singles.

"I've been here about eight years," Nott says. "I've gotten a lot of my gay friends to

move to town. I love it here. All my neighbors are very nice. And I enjoy the small-

town feel."

Gays say they have been settling since the late 1980s in Collingswood, where

they don't feel isolated or uncomfortable in public, sort of like a new New Hope, Pa.

"A lot of gay and lesbian couples want more of a small- town feel, to get a sense

of community not found in the city," said Steven Burch, who lives on Harrison Avenue

in

Collingswood with his longtime partner, Stephen

Drayton. "I know more single people who live in the

city, but more couples are keeping their jobs in the

city and living in South Jersey because it's an easy

commute."

Collingswood, Haddon Township and Haddonfield

are less than 10 minutes from Philadelphia on PATCO

trains, which help link suburban gays with the nightlife

and culture of Philadelphia.

The towns offer affordable housing, compared with

the trendier parts of Philadelphia that many gays have left.

Haddonfield's gay community, though second only to to to Collingswood in the

tri-county area, is less visible, said Natalie Worrell, 31.

Worrell moved to Collingswood a month ago to live with her longtime partner after

living in Haddonfield for six years.

"Haddonfield is so conservative," Worrell said. "To walk down the street holding

hands was impossible. People weren' t very supportive. The gay community there is

definitely underground."

Worrell said she knows lesbians who own a business on Kings Highway but don't

acknowledge publicly that they're gay.

Actually, the 2000 Census almost certainly represents an undercount of gay life.

It was the first time the Census Bureau gave all U.S. households the opportunity to

identify themselves as same- sex partner households.

The census figures show 1,916 same-sex households in the tri-county area, or .5

percent of all households. That suggests as many as 992 households with lesbian

couples and 924 with gay couples.

Gay advocates argue the census numbers understate the breadth of their community.

They note that many gay couples were afraid to be truthful on an official government

document, despite a confidentiality guarantee.

The Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies surveyed participants at a march

in Washington. It found that 87 percent of those in attendance living with a partner used

the "unmarried partner" designation on the census form. That means 13 percent did not.

Nor did the census count single gays or those not living with their partners. The

Census Bureau acknowledges the data are far from perfect, and a comparison with

1990 is impossible because of the way the data were handled a decade ago.

Most gays in the tri-county area say they experience occasional bigotry - but more

often they're accepted.

Angelo DeLisi said he grew up in South Philadelphia and moved to Collingswood 15

years ago because, even then, there was a large gay population. DeLisi, 48, estimates

there are at least as many gays in the borough living without partners as there are

couples. "I felt comfortable here, even 15 years ago," he said, adding the gay community

"is just getting bigger and bigger."

Keith Madden, who is gay, has owned Follow the Rainbow, a New Age shop now on

Haddon Avenue in Collingswood, for six years.

A geologist by training, he specializes in hard-to-find rocks and crystals believed by

some to have healing or spiritual properties. He also makes custom jewelry.

"The business is not focused on whether we're gay," Madden said, hunkered over a

collection of gems being prepared for a client leaving for India. "We get Hindus and

Buddhists, as well as Wiccans and pagans. But we sell to all walks of life."

Though Madden lives in Audubon, he says Collingswood is known to have "a huge

gay community."

Gays are becoming more visible in other communities, too.

Dave Knox, who handles marketing for Laurel Lanes on Route 73 in Maple Shade,

said two gay bowling leagues that operate out of the lanes are popular.

"Our top three communities where we pull from (for gay leagues) are Moorestown,

Collingswood and quite a number come from Camden," Knox said.