"Fantabulous" Ferndale

There is a tiny town nestled between Detroit proper and where I live called Ferndale.  Ferndale hugs Woodward Avenue (called Detroit’s “Main Street,” it runs from the riverfront and the tunnel to Canada to the city of Pontiac).  It’s primarily a residential city of 20,000 but has come into its own within the past twenty years – primarily because it was the first city in Michigan to elect an openly-gay mayor.

“Fantabulous Ferndale,” as a town, has been completely revitalized – it’s liberal, progressive, and has a high LGBTQ population.  Known for its prominent gay-friendly policies, too, it’s become a hotbed for growth in the retail and hospitality industries.  If you’re visiting Detroit and have the time, you might want to give Ferndale a look-see, because I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

There’s always something (someone?) to look at in Ferndale.  Due to its popularity with younger people, people-watching is a definite pastime while sitting on the café patios or while window shopping.  I had to go there a few weeks ago to run some errands that could only be accomplished in Ferndale, and sure enough, the main drag didn’t disappoint.  It never matters whether one is there for business or pleasure.

Case in point to my visit was the guy on the bicycle who was wearing basketball shorts down to his calves with an obvious pair of extremely tight briefs underneath; lines were clearly visible (didn’t hurt that he had facial hair and was being environmentally responsible, either).  On the flip side, there was also the guy at a bus stop – shirtless, good-looking in a stoner-kind-of-way, but rocking back and forth in a I’m-lost-I-don’t-know-where-my-clothes-are-or-where-I-live haze.  Even though I was driving by, it was obvious he wasn’t wearing any undershorts.  (Which probably explains some of his confusion.  Hhrrmm.)  My massage therapist is in Ferndale, and although Luke is straight, he definitely fits in to the Ferndale image, too – good-looking, tattoos, piercings, liberal, anti-establishment. 

Ferndale is one of those cities with “character,” because it’s filled with “characters.”  It’s got kitsch, used bookstores, tattoo parlors, popular restaurants, and some really great old houses (on the western side of Woodward, anyway).  The only thing that stopped Tom and I from buying a house there, since we would have been surrounded by “our people,” was the fact it borders Detroit, and some crime inevitably spills over Eight Mile Road and into the city.  Still, I give the city credit – the police are vigilant, and the people are accepting.  In 2006, it passed an anti-discrimination ordinance, and it was the home of Motor City Pride for many years, but the event grew and eventually moved to Hart Plaza in Detroit.

Eminem records in the city, and remember the show MacGyver?  Dana Elcar, who played Peter Thornton, was born in Ferndale.  Fashionable, fabulous and friendly – three “F” words that you probably never thought you would hear in connection with Detroit or one of its suburbs, huh?  Get the full effect and feel of Ferndale at http://ferndalemap.com/.

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