2. Jackson Heights is the site of the first Garden City community in the U.S.
Sir Ebenezer Howard of the United Kingdom created the Garden City Movement, which pushed for planned urban communities surrounded by nature. In these Garden Cities, residents would live in harmony with nature and be free from urban stress. Edward A. MacDougall, founder of the Queensboro Corporation, worked with Howard to create the first Garden City community in the United States in the early 20th century in what would become Jackson Heights.
As development started, Laurel Court became the first Garden City apartment building in the nation. Eventually the Queensboro Corporation hired architect Andrew J. Thomas to further the development of the neighborhood. After the addition of the subway, the influence of the Garden City Movement within Jackson Heights decreased since the area became a commuter neighborhood. Nevertheless, one of Thomas’s most significant additions to the neighborhood is the still extant Linden Court, a 10-building development complex that surrounds green space.
