Tell me everything your know about the community of Elmhurst, NY.

June 21, 2008 11:21 AM

What can you tell me about Elmhurst, NY? How long does it take to get there from the Upper West Side?

I'm interviewing at an elementary school there and I'd like to know anything about the area. Is it a good area to teach in? Upper, middle, working class? Many immigrants and non-English speakers? Urban or suburban?

posted by DarwinianDan to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

I don't live in Elmhurst, but I live in nearby Astoria. Elmhurst is near LaGuardia airport (as is Astoria). Working class, many immigrants I would say. If you're familiar with western Queens, it kind of fits in with that kind of vibe. Commuting there from the Upper West Side isn't ideal as you'll definitely have to take more than one train, if you rely on the subway. I can't speak on the schools there as I haven't attended them, but I would say you'd expect children from middle/working class families, many of them immigrants.

This is a good page of more specific information. This comes from that page: "Many of the neighborhood's schools are at or over capacity. Elmhurst's Newtown High School is a gorgeous building, but its students underperform on standardized tests and the graduation rate is lower than the state average. (That includes many who have just emigrated to the country. In 2006, 17% of students were immigrants within the past three years, according NYC school statistics.)"
posted by wondermouse at 12:43 PM on June 21, 2008

I only know it from driving through, but you can see demographic details at ZIPskinny.

With no traffic, it would probably take you 25-35 minutes to make it from the upper west side. With normal traffic, probably 45+ minutes.
posted by i love cheese at 12:46 PM on June 21, 2008

Oh, and the demographic breakdown by school is on this page
posted by i love cheese at 12:47 PM on June 21, 2008

I would call it dense suburban: many attached houses, cars jammed into tiny driveways, immigrant enclaves marked by their churches and grocery stores.

I also would tell you that there are some fantastic ethnic (SE Asian in particular) restaurants in the area, many under the nearby 7 elevated train. But that perhaps is not relevant to your taking a job there. Consider it cuisinal education.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 2:50 PM on June 21, 2008

As to the commute, Hopstop is completely accurate, so you can go ahead and plug in the Upper West Side address and the school's address and the time of day you'd be traveling and it'll tell you precisely how many walking blocks and subway sitting minutes you're in for.
posted by xo at 5:09 PM on June 22, 2008