Gustavo Rodriguez didn’t choose to live in Queens, but now he can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Forest Hills is an upscale, largely residential neighborhood with easy auto access to the Grand Central Parkway, the Long Island Expressway, Union Turnpike, and the Van Wyck Expressway. The main retail area, Austin Street, has a mix of international, high-end stores and small, mom-and-pop businesses.

Ridgewood’s first major population burst was in the early 1900s, when Germans and German-Americans skipped over from Williamsburg, which is nearby, but on the other side of the Brooklyn border.