6.2 out of 10

Elmhurst

Ranked 32nd best neighborhood in Queens
40.7405611668553 -73.8796440986065
Great for
  • Public Transport
  • Schools
  • Medical Facilities
  • Parks & Recreation
  • Eating Out
Not great for
  • Parking
  • Nightlife
  •  
  •  
  •  
Who lives here?
  • Families with kids
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Retirees
  •  

Reviews

5/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Pest Free 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 2/5
  • Parks & Recreation 5/5
  • Shopping Options 5/5
  • Gym & Fitness 5/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Parking 3/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 4/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Medical Facilities 5/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 5/5
2yrs+

"I see there hasn't been a review in 2 years - Here's a fresh perspective."

I'm not one to go out of my way to write reviews, but I came across this page and was stunned by the lack of current data and well pictures. I can confidently say I this is my hometown, my parents brang me here when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I'm now 23 and know this neighborhood like the back of my hand. This Neighborhood gets a bad rep for its density and "older streets." However, Elmhurst's Community Board and The City have been working hard to create a clean environment. Having Installed Eco-friendly runoffs on many neighborhood streets, Investing in the neighborhoods educational system even investing in one of the cities most impressive update's "The Elmhurst Library" Designed by Marpillero Pollak Architects. There's still a slight issue with it's bigger parks with people loitering, but the rapid development in the area has helped a lot with that problem. Overall this has helped make the neighborhood safer. It's a working-class neighborhood with a focus on families. There's not much nightlife going on, but because of its location Elmhurstinians are only 20 minutes away from the city center. With access to the M, R, E, F, 7 trains and for drivers you'll have easy access to The BQE, LIE, Queens Blvd, and Northern Blvd. But the population density does create a parking problem that needs addressing. However, because the population is so diverse anyone that loves trying new cuisines will love the area. There are tons of local restaurants from all the regions you could think off as well as groceries nearby:

Yes the neighborhood has had a bit off a problem with loiterers, and it's share of criminal activity, but this has been greatly reduced. There's even Luxury Condos in development something that just 3 years ago would have been a ludicrous idea. Overall This neighborhood is becoming more and more attractive while remaining a family friendly environment
Pros
  • Real Estate is still affordable.
  • Fantastic ethnic restaurants and mall shopping options
  • Good subway connections
  • Its great diversity
  • Diverse food
  • Ethnic shopping
Cons
  • Homeless issues
  • Downright Ugly in parts
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 5/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Schools 5/5
2yrs+

"It's ok to a certain extent."

First off, I have been a resident of Elmhurst for 22 years. Elmhurst has its good and its bad. For starters, if you are an out of towner visiting friends or family here, you might notice that this neighborhood is very aged. Some street lights tend to not work and some older buildings can use big updates like security cameras , etc. I'd say about a good 30% of the neighborhood is a downright eyesore. Most people from elmhurst are family oriented people from 3rd world countries just trying to survive and whatever income they can. You will see many Latin americans living in small buildings/houses all working minimum wage to pay rent. The options for food go on seemingly forever though. If you like to try different cuisines you definitely want to check out this neighborhood. The parks are ok. However, as with most parks in New York City, there is your....lets say 'headache' element. The headache element are always hanging out, doing drugs and sometimes starting gang fights by the handball courts. And many homeless people tend to make Elmhurst park benches there homes. You can go here and have no problems with your kids though, just try to stay away from the 'headache element'. Crime overall is not too bad and it shouldn't be your main problem. But thats not to say it doesn't happen. Just yesterday a man shot at two police officers. As with any neighborhood in any major city, you want to always watch your back, no matter how friendly the people seem. Also, if you have kids, this may not be the best place to let them go wandering past midnight. Especially if you have a daughter. There are alot of drunk people who wander under the trains or certain parts of the neighborhood who rape women. That has always been a problem in Elmhurst for as long as I know. The schools are good from what I remember. Mind your business here and you might find a place you can call your home for the rest of your life, because the rent is some of the lowest in the city and the access to Manhattan is great, you can get there in 15 minutes via subway.
Pros
  • Schools are good
  • Rent is pretty low for NYC standards
  • Fantastic ethnic restaurants and mall shopping options
  • Good subway connections
  • Its great diversity
Cons
  • crime
  • Drug zombies/Homeless people
  • Not gentrified
Recommended for
  • Singles
4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 3/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Pest Free 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 4/5
  • Nightlife 2/5
  • Parks & Recreation 4/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 2/5
  • Parking 3/5
  • Cost of Living 4/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 3/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 3/5
  • Childcare 4/5
2yrs+

"Town thats like a mini UN"

Elmhurst in an incredibly diverse neighborhood in Queens, with a mixture of Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic residents. The main strip on Broadway has a huge Asian supermarket as well as many good Asian restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores. It is also close to Queens Blvd with a lot of big box stores (Target, Best Buy, Queens Plaza mall, Queens Center shopping mall, etc). So in terms of shopping and eating out, Elmhurst is extremely convenient. Around the area of Elmhurst Hospital (one of the best known hospitals in Queens), there are many vagrant-looking people. While it would be unfair to say that this fact alone makes the town unsafe, it certainly does serve to make it less pleasant. Also, the only subway stop in Elmhurst is a local train stop (R, M), which makes the commute to the city a little longer. At the same time, the town boasts easy access to the Long Island Expressway and the Brooklyn - Queens Expressway. The rent and housing prices, as well as the cost of living in Elmhurst are very low, but the low-income immigrant population does make certain aspects of living here rather inconvenient. For example, the wait at the hospital can be extraordinarily long and the streets and recreational areas (such as parks and playgrounds) are very crowded.
Pros
  • Ethnic shopping
  • Diverse food
  • Fantastic ethnic restaurants and mall shopping options
Cons
  • Downright Ugly in parts
  • Hardly any green spaces
  • Poor schooling options
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 2/5
  • Pest Free 2/5
  • Peace & Quiet 2/5
  • Eating Out 5/5
  • Nightlife 2/5
  • Parks & Recreation 2/5
  • Shopping Options 4/5
  • Gym & Fitness 3/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 2/5
  • Parking 3/5
  • Cost of Living 4/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 3/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 2/5
  • Childcare 3/5
2yrs+

"Around the world in eight plates"

Elmhurst in Western Queens is another ethnically diverse neighborhood that attracts me for its myriad shopping and dining options. Elmhurst has its northern boundary Jackson Heights and Roosevelt Avenue and Queen’s Boulevard as its limit on the south while Corona at Junction Avenue and Woodside Avenue, form its Eastern and Western limits.
Elmurst which is populated by detached wood frame multi-family houses and brick co-op apartments is home to a diverse population that is made up of Asian, Latin Americans Italian and Jewish folk. The main commercial drags of the neighborhood are located along Broadway, Whitney Avenue and Queens Boulevard. This largely ethnic working class neighborhood is well connected to midtown Manhattan via the G, 7, E, R, V subway lines and the travel time to midtown is usually 20-25 minutes.
As Elmhurst is home to an ethnically diverse population it is renowned for its fantastic restaurants like the Malaysian- Singaporean joint, Taste Good that provides cheap but delicious Singaporean fare and also caters for functions at the Singaporean consulate in Manhattan. Yet another great Elmhurst restaurant is Mie Jakarta which is a home-style Indonesian joint on Whitney Avenue that serves up great Indonesian fare like Nasi Campur and Mie komplit.
The neighborhood is also populated with many great ethnic grocery stores( the huge Hong Kong Supermarket which retails some of the freshest fruit in the city and also stocks Thai sweets made of sago) though it also offers much mid-range retail at its two big malls, Queen’s Plaza Mall and Queen’s Center Mall at Queen’s Boulevard.
Pros
  • Its great diversity
  • Fantastic ethnic restaurants and mall shopping options
  • Good subway connections
Cons
  • Poor schooling options
  • Hardly any green spaces
  • Downright Ugly in parts
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
2/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 3/5
  • Safe & Sound 2/5
  • Clean & Green 1/5
  • Pest Free 2/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 3/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Parks & Recreation 3/5
  • Shopping Options 2/5
  • Gym & Fitness 2/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 2/5
  • Public Transport 3/5
  • Medical Facilities 3/5
  • Schools 2/5
  • Childcare 2/5
2yrs+

"Cheaper choice to live around NYC"

Living in Queens is a lot cheaper compare to living in Manhattan. Elmhurst has a lot of Chinese supermarkets and restaurant, so it's convenient to do grocery shopping. It takes about 30-40 minute to take the subway in town, but the subway is really crowded in rush hours. I lived there for two months but moved away after I started my internship in Dumbo because I have to take the F train every morning and it takes me 50 minute to get there, it's just too time consuming for me. You can save a lot of money living in Elmhurst but it's not the most convenient place if you go to Manhattan everyday. Another thing is that if you're out in the city late at night, the subway is not that frequent, you have to wait for a really long time to get home.
Recommended for
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
3/5
2yrs+

"Urban shopping and loads of transportation"

Elmhurst is a northwestern Queens neighborhood that is surrounded by Jackson Heights to the north, Maspeth to the west, Middle Village and Rego Park to the south, and Corona and North Corona to the east.

Elmhurst is home to two urban shopping malls. The recently expanded Queens Center Mall, the most profitable mall per square foot in the United States, and the recently renovated and expanded Queens Place Mall, a smaller round shopping center originally built as a Macy's branch.

Accessible subway stations are Woodhaven Boulevard, Grand Avenue–Newtown and Elmhurst Avenue, all served by the G, R, and V trains of the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In addition, the IRT Flushing Line, served by the 7 train, runs along Roosevelt Avenue, the north border of Elmhurst, with stations at 74th Street–Broadway, 82nd Street-Jackson Heights and 90th Street-Elmhurst Avenue.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
3/5
2yrs+

"Mix of Residents, not for tourists"

The population here is generally a mix of middle and working class families, and the landscape is a mix of co-ops, apartment buildings, and actual houses. The population is ethnically diverse; immigrants have flocked into the small space from the continents of both Asia and South America. This is not exactly a peaches-and-cream sort of neighborhood, thought it’s been much improved in recent decades – there are still some run-down areas, and some problems with illegal housing. Crime rates could be worse – but it’s recommended not to travel through the area alone, especially if you are a woman, as there have been plenty of rapes reported in the neighborhood.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees

Best Streets in Elmhurst

1

Queens Blvd

3/5
"A surprise amidst the Courts"
40.73760547761 -73.8817456102979

Unranked Streets in Elmhurst

45th Ave

2/5
"Boring but whatever"
40.7416066426283 -73.882980926013

58th Ave

2/5
"On 58th Avenue"
40.7315049201115 -73.8749754633208

75th St

2.5/5
"On 75th Street"
40.7454345014611 -73.8902109993209

82nd St

2.5/5
"Bargain Hunter's Heaven"
40.7410207111123 -73.8828354916516

Alstyne Ave

3.5/5
"On Corona Avenue"
40.7429568354809 -73.8687263073272

Benham St

2.5/5
"On Benham Street"
40.7477905237584 -73.8738101140464

Elmhurst Ave

2.5/5
"On Elmhurst Avenue"
40.7449157946008 -73.878358254151

Gleane St

3.5/5
"Just Like the Old Neighborhoods on Television"
40.7453641046501 -73.8773934583212

Ithaca St

4/5
"No Place Like Home"
40.7450070364363 -73.8802380880987

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