Foodscape: Rego Park/Forest Hills

by NYC Food Policy Editor

Rego Park/Forest Hills Foodscape

Queens Community District 6

About Foodscapes

Access to affordable and nutritious food is one of the cornerstones of good health. Without this, individuals—and communities—are at a higher risk of food insecurity and serious chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. To improve the health of New Yorkers, we must recognize that each neighborhood has a distinct food environment.

Purpose

These Foodscape reports provide a community-level snapshot of a community’s food environment, including data on healthy and unhealthy food consumption, food access, and diet-related diseases. Additionally, the reports detail a comprehensive guide of the many food-related resources available to residents within their neighborhoods to support them in eating healthier. The Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center has compiled this information from various sources, presenting it in a user-friendly format to help NYC residents and communities better understand their local foodscapes.

The NYC Foodscape Reports were published in 2020 and are continually updated every six months. Data in the Foodscape Reports is collected from multiple primary sources to ensure the most up-to-date statistics for each indicator. Learn more about organizations and resources highlighted in the Foodscape Reports by visiting the Center’s Neighborhood Food Resource Guides as well as the Food Policy and Practice Database. Together, these three resources provide a comprehensive food-related guide to each New York City neighborhood. 

Zip codes include: 11374, 11375

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

DEMOGRAPHICS:

  • Total Population: 120,955 (1.35% of NYC population) (1)
  • Population by Race and Ethnicity of Rego Park/Forest Hills and New York City (2)
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 14% Latino | NYC: 29.2% Latino
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 3% Black | NYC: 21.7% Black
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 51% White | NYC: 31.8% White
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 30% Asian/Pacific Islander | NYC: 14.1% Asian
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 2% Other | NYC: 2% Other
  • Rego Park/Forest Hills Population by Age: (3)
    • 0-17 years: 16%
    • 18-24 years: 5%
    • 25-44 years: 31%
    • 45-64 years: 28%
    • 65+ years: 19%
  • Life Expectancy
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 84.9 years (2) | NYC: 82.1 years (2)
  • Born Outside the US: 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 50% (2) | NYC: 36.8% (2)

NEIGHBORHOOD ACCESS TO HEALTHY FOOD:

  • Supermarket to Bodega Ratio: One (1) supermarket in Rego Park/Forest Hills to 5 bodegas (1)
  • Meal Gap (# of meals needed per year for food security): 2,240,495 (2)
  • Food Insecurity
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 10.3% of residents (2)| NYC: 15.4% of residents (2)
  • Residences that Lack a Kitchen: 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 0.7% of housing units (2)| NYC: 0.8% (2)
  • Households Receiving SNAP Benefits: 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 10.0% of households (2)| NYC: 22.4% of households (2)

HEALTH BEHAVIORS:

  • No Fruits and Vegetables Yesterday: 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 7% of adults (2) | NYC: 12.9% of adults (2)
  • One or More 12-ounce Sugary Drinks Per Day (percent of adults): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 18% (2) | NYC: 23% (2)
  • No Physical Activity in the Last 30 Days
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 32% of adults (2) | NYC: 27.1% of adults (2)
  • Binge Drinking
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 20% (2) | NYC: 17.4% (2)
  • Smokers
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 10% (2) | NYC: 13.9% (2)

HEALTH AND DISEASE STATUS:

  • Adults Reporting Their Own Health as “Excellent,” “Very Good” or “Good” (percent of adults): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 82% (2) | NYC: 78% (2)
  • Obesity (percent of adults): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 19% (2) | NYC: 24% (2)
  •  Childhood Obesity (percent of public school children in grades K through 8): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 11% (3) | NYC: 20% (3)
  • Diabetes (percent of adults): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 7% (2) | NYC: 11% (2)
  • Hypertension (percent of adults): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 28% (3) | NYC: 28% (3)

ECONOMIC AND LIVING-CONDITION STRESS, CONTRIBUTORS TO FOOD INSECURITY:

  • Median Household Income
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: $74,618 (2) | NYC: $60,879 (2)
  • Poverty (percent of households with incomes below poverty): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 10.6% (2) | NYC: 19.7% (2)
  • Unemployment (percent of people ages 16 and older): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 2.8% (2) | NYC: 4.5% (2)
  • Extreme Housing Burden (Extreme Housing Burden includes households spending more than 50% of income on housing)
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 28.1% (2) | NYC: 29.5% (2)
  • Rent Burden (households that spend 35% or more of their income on rent)
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 42.7% (5) | NYC: 44.2% (5)

EXERCISE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BURDEN

  • Air Pollution (micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 7.5 (1) | New York City-wide: 7.5 (1)
  • Bicycle Network Coverage (percent of streets with bike lanes): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 0% (3) | New York City-wide: 10% (3)
  • Pedestrian Injury Hospitalizations (per 100,000 people): 
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 13 (3) | New York City-wide: 23 (3)
  • Percent of Land Used for Public Parks, Open Spaces, and Recreation:
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 1.9% (2) | New York City-wide: 24.7% (2)
  • Canopy Coverage (percent of ground covered by tree crown/canopy):
    • Rego Park/Forest Hills: 25.67% (6) | Queens: 18.9% (6) | New York City-wide: 22.04% (6)

To view information on Rego Park/Forest Hill Community Gardens, Greenthumb Gardens, School Gardens, Farmers’ Markets, Snap Enrollment Sites, Food Pantries, Retail Food Stores, Parks, and more please visit the link below:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230606082543/https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/foodscape-rego-park-forest-hills/

REFERENCES:

    1. “2020 Data for NYC, Boros, CDs, Council Districts, NTAs, & Tracts.” NYC Planning. 2021, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/planning-level/nyc-population/2020-census.page.
    2. “Data2Go: Forest Hills & Rego Park.” data2go.Nyc, Measure of America of the Social Science Research Council and Helmsley Charitable Trust, https://www.data2go.nyc/map/?id=406*36047015900*ahdi_puma!undefined!ns*!other_pop_cd_506~ahdi_puma_1~sch_enrol_cd_112~age_pyramid_male_85_plus_cd_20~median_household_income_puma_397~median_personal_earnings_puma_400~dis_y_perc_puma_102~poverty_ceo_cd_417~unemployment_cd_408~pre_k_cd_107!*air_qual_cd~ahdi_puma*family_homeless_cd_245#9/40.8263/-73.9572.
    3. Hinterland, K, et al. “Community Health Profiles 2018, Queens Community District 6: Rego park and Forest Hills.” Community Health Profiles 2018, Queens Community District 6: Rego Park and Forest Hills, 2018, pp. 1–20
    4. “Green Thumb Garden Map.” NYC Parks, https://greenthumb.nycgovparks.org/gardensearch.php
    5. “NYC Community District Profiles” NYC Planning https://communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov/bronx/2#indicators.
    6. Treglia ML, Acosta-Morel M, Crabtree D, Galbo K, Lin-Moges T, Van Slooten A, Maxwell EN. The State of the Urban Forest in New York City. The Nature Conservancy. 2021. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5532876

Article Image: “New York City (NYC) Neighborhood Maps – By Borough – Queens.” NYCdata, Baruch College Zicklin School of Business, https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/population-geography/maps-boroughs.htm.

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