Why Ferndale is Growing While Other Suburbs Are Shrinking

Ferndale is bucking the trend. While most of Detroit's inner-ring suburbs are losing people, Ferndale has grown 1.3% since 2020 — outpacing every municipality that touches Detroit's city limits. We dig into new population data highlighted by the Detroit Free Press and ask what makes Ferndale different: walkable neighborhoods, a real downtown at Woodward and Nine Mile, a strong LGBTQ community, and a place where people say they feel safe because neighbors have their back. Here's a link to the piece we discussed: We contrast Ferndale's urbanist-friendly density and sense of belonging with the population losses in places like Warren, Redford, Dearborn Heights, and River Rouge, and talk about how Gen Z, dual-income-no-kids households, and the Woodward corridor are reshaping where Metro Detroiters choose to live.

You can listen to Why Ferndale is Growing While Other Suburbs Are Shrinking online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Why Ferndale is Growing While Other Suburbs Are Shrinking is an episode from Daily Detroit by Daily Detroit.

This episode is 19:59 long.

This episode was published on Apr 29, 2026.

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