The best suburb in America
Well, it’s my favourite. And it’s a hundred years old.
Forest Hills Gardens bought the garden city movement to America. Designed by Grosvenor Attenbury in 1909 for the Russell Sage Foundation, it was intended to be a demonstration project for the latest ideas in town planning, housing, open space and building construction.
Originally targeted to a mix of incomes, including middle- and lower-income residents, it was done so well that today it has some of the most expensive housing in Queens (a borough of New York City) - even for pre-fab apartments. Sitting aside the Long Island Railway, it was truly a ‘transit-oriented development.’
I was first enchanted by its design – a medieval, Germanic, arts-and-crafts mix set in a landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. What I didn’t know was how extraordinary the construction techniques were – something well told in the Slate slide essay by Witold Rybczynski here.
An extraordinary achievement that regrettably did not become a model, as intended by its sponsor, for the American suburb – save for the very rich.
i’m very familiar with Forest Hill Gardens, growing up not to far away…
It is beautiful, but in some ways (at least for us that don’t enjoy living there) a bit sad at the same time. Because, as you mention, it wasn’t used as a blueprint for other outer neighborhoods & suburbs (btw, since this is within nyc borders, i wouldn’t call it a suburb per se), it is surrounded on all sides by pretty horrible examples of “motordom” inspired neighborhoods…Also it is ridiculously expensive, leaving it to seem not much better than a picture perfect gated community.
As for best suburb in America? Not sure..I would imagine there must be some that are just as visually pleasing & well planned, while not being a rich enclave and perhaps better integrated/closer to downtown cores…Neighborhoods surrounding Seatle & Portland come to mind…