Gay bars in ferndale mi
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"In the '80s and '90s there was more affordable housing in Ferndale, classic homes built 80 years ago that were kind of shabby. Once liberal Goedert became mayor, he shook up city hall by displacing long-term seat-holders on the Planning Commission and instead brought in qualified professionals willing to volunteer their time.
"A lot of these components together attracted an LGBT community that saw a revitalized neighborhood that cared," Goedert says.
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. "We took the better approach and it worked … instead of bulldozing it for a strip mall as the old leadership wanted."
The "old leadership" was extremely conservative and extremely entitled.
"Royal Oak was growing and starting to gentrify and wasn’t affordable at the time," Covey explains. In Detroit, when the push for gay rights became part of the national debate, Palmer Park would have been our Castro or Montrose.
For venues, start with Soho, a long-running gay bar with a tight, neighborhood feel.
A developer came in afterward and built the housing that's now there.
Goedert then advocated for re-developing the downtown into a walkable business district.
Ferndale sits just north of Detroit and it’s one of the easiest queer-friendly bases in metro Detroit. And the DDA continues to foster diversity by ensuring that their board members represent the community’s diverse population.
THE PAST IS PRESENT
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.
September is a sweet spot: fewer crowds, patio weather, and plenty still going on. 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.
"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.
Whether you call yourself drag king, drag queen, curious, homosexual, transgender, leather, transsexual, gurl, girl, male, cross dresser, female, gay, daddy, bisexual, questioning, guy, boy, lesbian, butch, boi, bear, man, alternative, gal, fem, woman, or simply human - where to find a fun place to meet or scene to free your life.
Travel from south, uptown, downtown, east, central, west, city, midtown, north, or country - driving directions from your address to the location of the new Ferndale, Michigan gay watering hole.
Ferndale draws crowds for local Pride-related parties and fundraisers, and you’re close to bigger regional happenings in Detroit and Royal Oak. Keep an eye on venue schedules for drag, karaoke, and special nights that pop up year-round. Single, dating, married?
Late spring through early fall is the best window. Depending on your device, get turn by turn driving directions from Google, Apple, Waze.
SOHO
Source www.metromodemedia.com - full article here
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.
"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.
Prior to WWII the gay community was centered downtown, then moved up Woodward to settle in New Center and later Palmer Park. 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.
According 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.