Forest Hills Is The 'English Countryside' Of NYC, Site Says

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Getting off the train at the Forest Hills station can feel like stepping into an English village, which, as a report recently pointed out, is by design.

Planned in 1910 by a team of designers (including one of the Olmsted brothers), Forest Hills was modeled after a countryside village, complete with a central station and shopping center, tree-lined streets, and Tudor homes, Secret NYC reported, citing The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

In the following decades, large venues opened in the neighborhood, including the West Side Tennis Club and the Forest Hills Stadium, drawing athletes and musicians alike to the neighborhood, which at one point had its own celebrity walk of fame.

Forest Hills has retained its "idyllic garden suburb" feel through multiple waves of industrialization and increasing urbanization, in large part due to the community's single-family homes.

There are over 800 single-family homes in the neighborhood, Secret NYC reported, many of which are Tudor- and Georgian-style buildings with red-tiled roofs and brick masonry — especially in the southern enclave of Forest Hills Garden.

Find out more about the history of Forest Hills' design here, and the Secret NYC article here.