Print this page Town & Country: A Garden City for America
J.M. Syken
Course Outline
In this course, we will examine the background and events leading up to the creation of the first “Garden City” in America: Forest Hills Gardens, in central Queens (an outlying borough of New York City). We will examine the housing problem resultant from the industrial revolution in towns and cities in both Europe and America and how urban theorist Ebenezer Howard’s book: Garden Cities of Tomorrow (1898) outlined a solution to both housing and quality of life issues of the day.
As well, we will examine the development of Garden Cities such as Letchworth and Hampstead Garden Suburb (both in England) and their influences on Forest Hills Gardens (FHG). The role of the Russell Sage Foundation, principal participants in the design/construction of FHG such as Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (landscaping) and Grosvenor Atterbury (architecture) will be studied in depth and detail. Also, life in FHG, its successes and failures and other Garden City/Suburban developments influenced by FHG and/or the Garden City movement will be reviewed.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
At the conclusion of this course, the student will:
- Understand/appreciate the problems created in cities by industrialization: inadequate housing, crime, pollution, overcrowding etc. and how country life was romanticized and/or yearned for by the masses;
- Understand/appreciate how urban theorist Ebenezer Howard sought combine the best of “Town” and “Country” life in satellite cities;
- Understand/appreciate the early Garden Cities built in the pre-WWI years in Europe and England, in particular, and how those models/examples influenced the idea to bring a garden City to America;
- Understand/appreciate the background/history of the Russell Sage Foundation for Betterment and their motivations for creating a model garden City in “the suburban district of New York”;
- Understand/appreciate the roles of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and architect Grosvenor Atterbury in the design, construction and operations of FHG;
- Understand/appreciate the evolution of community life in FHG as it relates to its status as the first Garden City in America; and
- Understand/appreciate what went right and what went wrong at FHG and how the lessons learned at FHG influenced other Garden City developments and suburban development in the post-WWII years.
Intended Audience
This course is intended for architects, engineers, contractors and other design/construction professionals.
Benefit to Attendees
The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into the creation of the first “Garden City” in America: Forest Hills Gardens.
Course Introduction
In the years before the First World War, four “movements” would come together to create a “Suburb in the City.” The first would be the Garden City movement made popular in Europe and England by urban theorist Ebenezer Howard. The “satellite city” he proposed was really an old idea made new. Develop on the outskirts of central cities towns that were well planned, accessible and limited in their growth/population. Pompei was just such a satellite of ancient Rome. However, the modern version would include a combination of the best town and/or country life had to offer. The second movement was embodied by gentleman activists such as Teddy Roosevelt and came to be known as the “Progressive Era.” The upper classes would take action to fight poverty, child labor, unhealthy conditions etc. as part of their creed to make the world a better place for those less fortunate than themselves. This progressive ideal would be the motivation by which the Russell Sage Foundation created FHG. The last two movements would be readily apparent in the architecture and landscaping of FHG. For the former, the ideals of the Arts & Crafts movement would be evident in the architecture while the City Beautiful movement would be evident in the landscaping and street plan of FHG.
Course Content
In this course, you are required to view/study the following slideshow and the materials contained in the web pages:
Town & Country: A Garden City for America (non-printable slideshow for screen-viewing only, 93 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)
Development of the English Town (Video)
The City (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2e0-fLYNWo
(Film: Celebration Florida: Disney's Not So Perfect Town - 11:22)
Note A: Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.
Course Summary
It’s considered one of the most beautiful places in America and one of the most desirable places to live in all of New York City’s five boroughs, but FHG failed to trigger a nationwide movement of Garden City development that the Russell Sage Foundation intended. There would be other Garden Cities influenced by FHG: Radburn, NJ (1929), Greenbelt, MD (1938), but they were part of only a handful ever built in America. However, many elements of the Garden City ideal would be adapted by developers such as William Levitt (of Levittown fame) in the post-WWII years. Suburban developers such as Levitt would select those features of the Garden City that were most easily and economically adaptable. FHG would also have a long-lasting legacy as a “restricted” neighborhood in the days before the civil rights of all America’s citizens to live where they choose was made an inalienable right by law. Despite its failures, FHG remains an example of the early evolution of suburban development and a fine place to live.
Related Links
For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Howard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_city_movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Hills_Gardens,_Queens
http://www.foresthillsgardensfoundation.org/
(Website for the Forest Hills Gardens Foundation)
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
