The urban neighborhood of Ridgewood is well-known for its brick and stone two-story buildings from the early 20th century, which give it a more Brooklyn than Queens look. Though high-density, Ridgewood is quiet and homey, working-class neighborhood.

Originally, Ridgewood was part of the Dutch settlement Bushwick and was later incorporated into the village of Brooklyn. Onderdonk House erected in 1709, which is the oldest Dutch Colonial stone house in New York City, stands as a legacy of the past. Also located at the Onderdonk House site is Arbitration Rock, which was a marker for the disputed boundary between Bushwick and Newtown and essentially Brooklyn and Queens.

There are more official historic districts in Ridgewood than anywhere else in Queens. A must-see is Stockholm Street, the only brick-paved block in Queens. Since 1908, the Ridgewood Times newspaper (a.k.a. Times Newsweekly) has covered local events and news. Every summer-time issue includes photos of block parties in Queens, and every issue includes the section "Our Neighborhood, The Way It Was" by "the Old Timer."

Ridgewood has also served as movie locations for numerous major motion pictures, including The French Connection, A Stranger Among Us, The Wanderers, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Jerky Boys: The Movie, Beat Street and Cop Out. In addition to these movies, scenes for The Sopranos were filmed on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood.

Ridgewood has not escaped the surge in NYC property values, but remains a good deal for its safety, convenience to Manhattan, and eye-catching housing stock. Look for 1920s row houses with decorative cornices and lintels and bow windows.

Ridgewood is a densely settled neighborhood, with housing stock ranging from six-family buildings near the Brooklyn border to two-family and single-family row houses deeper into Queens.