7.0 out of 10

Fresh Meadow

Ranked 19th best neighborhood in Queens
40.73269909574 -73.7815089816393
Great for
  • Childcare
  • Eating Out
  • Gym & Fitness
  • Internet Access
  • Medical Facilities
Not great for
  • Parking
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Who lives here?
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Students

Reviews

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

"Up & coming neighborhood"

Fresh Meadows is another Queens neighborhood that has been undergoing numerous changes since the last housing boom. For the most part, if you're looking to buy a home, you're going to see a lot of very old houses that are in desperate need of renovation, and you will find new constructions or houses that have been completely redone. The schools in Fresh Meadows are very well ranked, and it is generally a quiet, safe neighborhood. If you get a two-family home, you can rent to Saint John's University students. There are also thousands of rental properties available in this area. There are apartment complexes, garden apartments, and co-ops. There are also lots of shops, two movie theaters, and plenty of restaurants. The diversity of the stores reflects the diversity of the residents: you'll find everything from Kosher food to Asian and Latin American. Residents also head to Cunningham Park to relax during the warmer months.

However, this is not a perfect neighborhood. One of the biggest problems is that there is no subway station in the area. This makes it hard to commute to the city, since you will have to take a 30-40 minute bus ride to the subway station in Flushing.
Pros
  • Relatively close to St. John's University
  • Wide range of rental properties
  • Many new or upgraded properties available
Cons
  • No subway or train nearby
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Students
MartinOleshM
MartinOleshM I have lived in Fresh Meadows for over 25 years. I would agree that it is far from perfect but I do dispute some of the characterizations made. The area covered by the name Fresh Meadows is quite large and therefore it is hard to generalize. I am most familiar with my own area near Cunningham Park. While the area was developed around World War II for the most part, the quality of the construction is such that if a house has been reasonably maintained, it may be far from desperate need of renovation. The real estate values are high and even tear-downs go for over half-a-million dollars. The area has been subjected to McMansionization and some of the architecture is pretty garish. The older houses were part of a subdivision and therefore there is a unity to the neighborhood that the recent construction has disrupted. In my particular area, just south of the Fresh Meadows apartments, a mega-development, the housing stock is almost exclusively one family detached houses on decent sized lots. There is no subway nearby but the Q-46 down Union Turnpike takes you to Kew Gardens-Forest Hills and the E and F trains, a twenty minute or so ride.
2yrs+
Add a comment...
4/5
2yrs+

"Affluent Queens neighborhood"

This is one of the richer areas of Queens, and - as you can probably guess – it’s got a relatively low population. Historically, Jewish families have long lived in the area, but many affluent Asian American families are trickling into Fresh Meadow. If you are thinking of living out here, it would be wise to get a car (then again, if you are considering moving out here you probably already have one) because there is no subway station in the area. Without a car, residents and visitors have to take a bus to get to the neighborhood.
Recommended for
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees

Unranked Streets in Fresh Meadow

189th St

2.5/5
"busy street in a busy neighborhood"
40.7305190066005 -73.7807509758789

198th St

2/5
"A Splintered Street"
40.7356098103341 -73.7742741531321

199th St

1.5/5
"Great Street in Queens"
40.7358297036189 -73.7734448282624

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