Forest Hills (New York, York: best neighborhoods, apartments, crime)

[kvraman]

Hi!

I am considering moving to Forest Hills with my wife and daughters (aged 5 & 2).

1. How safe are the streets? We are not in the habit of wandering around late at night. However, we may return late once in a while. Other than that is it safe for my wife and kids to go around in early evening and night. What sort of crime can be expected?

2. How is the P.S. 196 school?

Venkat

[kimchee]

I used to live in Forest Hills and walk around as late as 3am. This is not exactly recommended for a small, single female but I was never worried about my safety walking around late at night. It's one of the best neighborhoods in Queens. The south side of FH is especially pretty with the tudor homes.

[LookingtoLeave]

Is the commute into the city fairly easy from all of Queens let alone Forest Hills?

[Henna]

Originally Posted by LookingtoLeave

Is the commute into the city fairly easy from all of Queens let alone Forest Hills?

The commute is fairly easy from Forest Hills because it's the 4th stop from Manhattan on the express subway (E/F). But the short answer is no, the commute is not easy from all of Queens. Queens is huge, and many parts of it are not subway-accessible.

And regarding the original poster's question - I've always thought of Forest Hills as being a very safe area, but I'm not usually there at night so really can't answer that one from personal experience. There is a forest hills area forum at www.queenscentral.com if you don't get enough answers here.

[mead]

Yeah Forest Hills is one of the safest and most well-off parts of Queens. I definitely wouldn't be worried so much about crime there.

The commute is pretty good from Forrest Hills if you are near the E station on 71st st ( believe it is) as that runs express into the city. There is also a LIRR station right there if you'd prefer that.

[LIPumpkin]

Forest Hills is nice and safe and as for PS 196, if it's the school I'm thinking of..it's one of the best..enjoy!

[LookingtoLeave]

Originally Posted by Henna

The commute is fairly easy from Forest Hills because it's the 4th stop from Manhattan on the express subway (E/F). But the short answer is no, the commute is not easy from all of Queens. Queens is huge, and many parts of it are not subway-accessible.

And regarding the original poster's question - I've always thought of Forest Hills as being a very safe area, but I'm not usually there at night so really can't answer that one from personal experience. There is a forest hills area forum at www.queenscentral.com if you don't get enough answers here.

Thanks for the link. I went to the link for Astoria and looked at the apartments forum and learned that much of it is infested with roached and mice. I hope that's not the case. Are vermon that popular there?

[Henna]

I've never lived in Astoria but I'm sure that the people who have roaches or mice in their apartments are going to be very vocal complaining about them. If someone starts a thread complaining about these things, I'm pretty sure that the people who don't have them are not going to be on there going on and on about the lack of these things. It's an anonymous online forum. Check the neighborhood forums for some (expensive) neighborhoods in Brooklyn and you will see everyone complaining about crime and bugs - whatever. It's a city. People are going to complain, esp. on anonymous forums.

Also, this thread was about Forest Hills so it would be nice to keep it on track.

[oc200]

P.S. 196 is one of the best public schools in all of the city. P.S. 196 Grand Central Parkway School
Parent Reviews of P.S. 196 Grand Central Parkway School - Forest Hills, New York - NY

I live 2 blocks away from the school and there is absolutely no crime in the area, as far as I can tell. I believe reading something like "no murder in the past couple of years in Forest Hills". My gf often comes home well past midnight from work and she's felt completely safe. You rarely notice any shady characters walking around.