Suburban tension: 'Don't Royal Oak My Ferndale'

Robert Allen | Detroit Free Press

A cheeky sign has stood for more than a month on a prime piece of real estate at the corner of Ferndale's busiest intersection.

"Don't Royal Oak My Ferndale," reads the sign hanging on the side of the shuttered Como's Restaurant, an iconic Italian eatery that operated at the northeast corner of 9 Mile and Woodward for nearly six decades until it closed last September.

You can take that sentiment a number of different ways, but at least on one level it speaks to concerns over how the site in the heart of downtown Ferndale might be developed and what it portends for the city's future.

An online real estate listing for the nearly 8,000-square-foot, single-story building and its large outdoor patio called it a prime spot for a potential new residential development or "the next trendy/hip bar restaurant in Ferndale."

The city's latest master plan suggests the site would be ideal for a multi-story, mixed-use building with office space or apartments on the upper floors — the very type of building that has proliferated in downtown Royal Oak in recent years.

Ferndale (population 20,649 in 2016) and Royal Oak (59,801) are separated by I-696 in Oakland County, just north of Detroit. Both have robust downtown areas with trendy bars and restaurants, but you needn't ask many residents of either to get an earful on their differences. You may hear the words "hipster" and "yuppie."

These were among the mentions in a lengthy discussion on the r/Detroit reddit page Wednesday that erupted with more than 230 comments by Thursday afternoon.

The title: "New to the area — what’s the context for this sign?" by u/NoNothThatBerkley

Top-voted comment: "I got into a trendy neighborhood at the gentrification level that I can afford and if it gentrifies too much further or becomes too much more of a destination I'll be forced out like the people I forced out to move in, and I don't want that." by u/Sapphon.

Another observation: "It's the cycle as communities and cities grow. Good for some and bad for others, rinse and repeat." by u/EmilioMolesteves.

Real estate, night life, culture are among topics. And whatever happens to the former Como's property is sure to create an implication on Ferndale's identity. Here's what u/Izzoh said:

It's becoming too expensive for much other than bars and restaurants to sustain themselves downtown (I know there still are other things down here - salons, some shops etc) to sustain a presence downtown. Ferndale's turning into a weird yuppie/party town now. We're a victim of our own success - it was a cheap alternative to Royal Oak that turned up and coming so now we have businesses get priced out by increasing rents. We'll see what happens with a few of the storefronts now - there's talk of turning Como's into a Walgreens(barf) or a hotel(ok if it had a restaurant that took advantage of the patio, I guess?) and some other vacant storefronts like the game shop, the one next to the upcoming mediterranean place, and whatever happens when the guitar shop moves out. Don't get me wrong, it's great to see a thriving downtown with people outside enjoying the space and all of that. I live downtown and work out of different coffee shops/restaurants here a lot of the time. But it does kind of suck to see all the ubers/lyfts/party buses stopping in traffic to pick up really drunk people in sombreros for cinco de mayo.

On Facebook: Beyond Woodward and 9 Mile, here's a post expanding on the theme from the profile for Tony J. Salveta:

DON'T ROYAL OAK MY FERNDALE

Don't Brimingham my Royal Oak

Don't Bloomfield my Birmingham

Don't Troy my Bloomfield

Don't Rochester my Troy

Don't Ferndale my Hamtramck

Don't Hamtramck my Corktown

Don't Corktown my Midtown

Don't Midtown my Downtown Detroit

Don't Detroit my Windsor

Read more:

Como's Restaurant closed permanently after the Oakland County Health Division revoked its food services license. The Italian restaurant underwent a temporary shutdown in 2016 for similar health code violations. The Grego family has owned the business since 1961.

The owner was asking $4 million for the property but the online listing says it is now off the market.

Free Press staff writer J.C. Reindl contributed to this report.

Contact Robert Allen on Twitter @rallenMI or rallen@freepress.com.