Ferndale Resident's Quest to Get, "Fashionable Ferndale," Changed

I had the opportunity to talk with Ferndale resident, Stephen Benjamin who is on a crusade to have Ferndale's nickname changed. He believes that, "Fashionable Ferndale," gives the wrong impression of the city, and should be changed to something that is more reflective of the types of establishments that can be found in the city.

When I spoke to Stephen Benjamin, he stated that, "The name Fashionable Ferndale does not fit the city anymore. Some might come to Ferndale thinking that they are going to find a lot of places to buy fashion clothing, but will be surprised that they will find more bars and nightclubs than places to find shoes."

His goal is to collect 2,000 signatures on his petition to have the nickname changed from Fashionable Ferndale to something else. To this point, he stated that he has been collecting signatures for three weeks, and has only gotten seven residents to sign it. It should be noted that the petition was not an official city granted petition.

When I asked him if he thought that Fashionable Ferndale referred to Ferndale being a fashionable place to hang out in, he stated that he did not believe that this was the intent of the nickname. At that time, I was standing in front of a poster that pointed out that Fashionable Ferndale was a great place to meet up with friends and hang out.