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A Modern Arcadia: Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and the Plan for Forest Hills Gardens
"Bright, cheerful houses, well arranged, well trimmed lawns, hedging carefully cut . . . distinctly joyous," wrote architectural critic Herbert Croly in 1914 about the Forest Hills Gardens community in Queens, New York. The New York Tribune agreed, reporting that the place was a "modern Garden of Eden, a fairy tale too good to be true."
Conceived as an experiment that would apply the new "science" of city planning to a suburban setting, Forest Hills Gardens was created by the Russell Sage Foundation to provide housing for middle-class commuters as an alternative to cramped flats in New York City. Although it has long been recognized as one of the most influential planned communities in the United States, this is the first time Forest Hills Gardens has been the subject of a book.
Susan L. Klaus's fully illustrated history chronicles the creation of the 142-acre development from its inception in 1909 through its first two decades, offering critical insights into American planning history, landscape architecture, and the social and economic forces that shaped housing in the Progressive Era. Klaus focuses particularly on the creative genius of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who served as planner and landscape architect for the project. Drawing on his father's visionary ideas but developing his own perspective, the younger Olmsted redefined planning for the modern era and became one of the founders of the profession of city planning in the United States.
Published in association with Library of American Landscape
Conceived as an experiment that would apply the new "science" of city planning to a suburban setting, Forest Hills Gardens was created by the Russell Sage Foundation to provide housing for middle-class commuters as an alternative to cramped flats in New York City. Although it has long been recognized as one of the most influential planned communities in the United States, this is the first time Forest Hills Gardens has been the subject of a book.
Susan L. Klaus's fully illustrated history chronicles the creation of the 142-acre development from its inception in 1909 through its first two decades, offering critical insights into American planning history, landscape architecture, and the social and economic forces that shaped housing in the Progressive Era. Klaus focuses particularly on the creative genius of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who served as planner and landscape architect for the project. Drawing on his father's visionary ideas but developing his own perspective, the younger Olmsted redefined planning for the modern era and became one of the founders of the profession of city planning in the United States.
Published in association with Library of American Landscape
- GenresNew York
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2001
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October 28, 2014
This book discusses the creation of Forest Hills Gardens, a commuter-train neighborhood in Central Queens. The book discusses the neighborhood's creation, as well as what makes it special.
I was especially surprised to learn that the neighborhood was financed not by a traditional real estate developer, but by the Russell Sage Foundation, a philanthropic project. Although the Foundation hoped to make a profit, it also hoped to create a model suburban community, one prettier and more orderly than the other streetcar and commuter-train suburbs springing up across the nation in the first two or three decades of the 20th century. The Foundation did not intend this neighborhood to be a working-class suburb- but it was (at first) accessible to the "lower white-collar" class of clerks and salespeople, as well as to more upper-class professionals.
What makes this neighborhood different from other well-off 1920s neighborhoods? First, the neighborhood creates a nice middle ground between the suburban model of curvilinear streets and the traditional urban grid: it has just enough of a grid for you to easily get from any street to any other street on foot, but has enough one-block streets to allow many residents to (I suspect) feel a bit more shielded from traffic than in other blocks. In addition, the neighborhood combines abundant park space with a wide variety of plants, making it feel more garden-like than typical suburbs with nothing but lawns and a monoculture of one or two types of trees. Finally, it is made for pedestrians as well as cars; sidewalks are universal, and commuter trains to Manhattan are nearby. (The subway is also nearby, but did not come to Forest Hills until the 1930s).
I was especially surprised to learn that the neighborhood was financed not by a traditional real estate developer, but by the Russell Sage Foundation, a philanthropic project. Although the Foundation hoped to make a profit, it also hoped to create a model suburban community, one prettier and more orderly than the other streetcar and commuter-train suburbs springing up across the nation in the first two or three decades of the 20th century. The Foundation did not intend this neighborhood to be a working-class suburb- but it was (at first) accessible to the "lower white-collar" class of clerks and salespeople, as well as to more upper-class professionals.
What makes this neighborhood different from other well-off 1920s neighborhoods? First, the neighborhood creates a nice middle ground between the suburban model of curvilinear streets and the traditional urban grid: it has just enough of a grid for you to easily get from any street to any other street on foot, but has enough one-block streets to allow many residents to (I suspect) feel a bit more shielded from traffic than in other blocks. In addition, the neighborhood combines abundant park space with a wide variety of plants, making it feel more garden-like than typical suburbs with nothing but lawns and a monoculture of one or two types of trees. Finally, it is made for pedestrians as well as cars; sidewalks are universal, and commuter trains to Manhattan are nearby. (The subway is also nearby, but did not come to Forest Hills until the 1930s).
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