Forest Hills Gardens in Queens was constructed as a rail suburb, taking advantage of the nearby main line of the Long Island Railroad, and was as centrally planned as any suburban development today. It was swallowed up by the growth of the city, and specifically by the growth of central Queens spurred by the construction of the IND subway below Queens Boulevard; it has remained small-scale as the rest of Forest Hills around it has become quite dense. There’s a “town square” of sorts adjacent to the LIRR station, with a few apartment houses, shops, and the stadium that was used for the US Open tennis tournament until a larger venue was built in Flushing Meadows Park. A view of that town square, from when I was visiting in 2020:
The architect, Grosvenor Atterbury, was reasonably famous and quite good. I’m not sure what instructions he was given here, but it seems to have been “what would the Tudors have built if they had reinforced concrete?” To put it another way, it’s picturesque but strange. Given that Queens is famous for architectural kitsch – fake half-timbering on five- and six-story apartment houses is surprisingly common – it’s probably Atterbury’s skill that kept this from becoming very silly.
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