A developer came in afterward and built the housing that's now there. Goedert forced Lansing’s hand and Reichhold was directed to clean up the site and contain contamination. One of his first crusades was the take-down of the old Reichhold Chemical plant, which had a terrible impact on the community because of pollution and its hulking decaying structure. "I wanted to get some things done to revitalize the city." "I was a lone voice on council the first four years," he says. "We had to turn that around," Goedert says "Folks could see, 'Hey, this place is going somewhere, they’re working to revitalize themselves,’ and they wanted to be a part of that." Goedert served on the Ferndale city council from 1992-1995, then as mayor from 1996-2001. You could roll a bowling ball down the middle of 9 Mile and not hit anything." Home values were declining the storefronts downtown were almost entirely empty except for a few adult bookstores, nail salons, wig shops and a strip club. "In the beginning of the '80s Ferndale was a blank slate," says Oakland County Commissioner and former mayor of Ferndale Craig Covey.
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But there was a series of vicious crimes and murders in the 1980s and people began to flee up to Ferndale. In Detroit, when the push for gay rights became part of the national debate, Palmer Park would have been our Castro or Montrose.
Prior to WWII the gay community was centered downtown, then moved up Woodward to settle in New Center and later Palmer Park. The LGBT community has had a history of following Woodward since World War II (when LGBT communities really began to cluster), a social migration pattern that has been happening for nearly 70 years. And the DDA continues to foster diversity by ensuring that their board members represent the community’s diverse population. Sheppard-Decius attributes much of the growth of the LGBT community within Ferndale to the government officials who became proactive 20 years ago in making a positive impact on what was then a crumbling city, as well as the LGBT activists who worked tirelessly at promoting safety and integration. It’s one thing to say you’re gay-friendly and one thing to actually BE gay-friendly." "It’s not about just being gay-friendly and open but being a hub there’s a difference in terms of how a city embraces and what else they do to encourage it. "There are a lot of things that go into it," says Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority. In fact, Pleasant Ridge ranks among the top ten nationally. But the difference between Ferndale and other cities is the difference between "us" and "them:" in Ferndale the gay community is simply referred to as the community it’s not about being gay-friendly or tolerant but being fully inclusive and integrated - to the point that "gay" isn’t even part of the discussion anymore.Īccording to the latest census information, in Michigan, Ferndale is second only to tiny but tawny neighbor Pleasant Ridge for percentage of households with same-sex couples. Cities like Royal Oak and Ann Arbor are gay-friendly there are gay bars and gay businesses and a strong show of LGBT neighbors within their respective communities.
There is a big difference between being inclusive and being tolerant. The real question is, how did Ferndale become the progressive inner-ring suburb that it is today, and why was the LGBT community drawn to this area en masse versus Royal Oak, Oak Park, or any other nearby suburb? To point out that the city has a large LGBT community goes without saying we wouldn’t exactly be shedding any new light on the subject by doing so. "It’s because of the diversity of race, age, sexual orientation, class, everything – right here in Ferndale." "Ferndale is a microcosm of the United States," says Charles Goedert, former mayor of Ferndale and current judge of the 43rd District Court in Hazel Park. The Ferndale we know today is a picturesque community where diversity is encouraged and celebrated, independently-owned businesses are promoted and supported, the residential areas are clean and safe, and the downtown gets more walkable every day.