Gay-friendly community? Check. Locally owned small businesses? Check. An emphasis on walkability? Check. Once a working-class auto industry town, Ferndale is emerging as Metro Detroit's go-to community for new urbanist success. Metromode's Jon Zemke looks into why.

There's little doubt about Metro Detroit's place in music history. We are a bottomless cauldron of rock n roll innovation and invention. And Movement is part of that...er, well, movement. Metromode chats with producer Jason Huvaere about electronic music's role in that legacy and the business of making it part of our region's future.

It's not a GLBT-friendly community without the drag queens. Though Ferndale is singled out for its pink and lavender street cred, Royal Oak is home to Five 15, a cafe, gift shop, art gallery, and party venue that unabashedly embraces queer culture. And it's found incredible crossover success with its sold-out-weeks-in-advance Drag Queen Bingo.

Metro Detroit recently landed a $2.85 million Sustainable Communities grant to help the region become more dense and develop its transit options. Brad Garmon, land programs director at the Michigan Environmental Council, offers a free-thinking approach to connecting the historically disparate forces of housing, land use, and eco-consciousness.