Living In - Springfield Gardens, Queens - NYTimes.com JAZZING up the look of homes comes with the territory in Springfield Gardens, a midsize middle-class enclave in southeastern Queens 14 miles from Manhattan. Its Capes, with their basic triangle-on-a-rectangle forms, were probably carbon copies of one another when built 60 years ago. But in the years since, they have accrued a wealth of individualizing details. There is circle-patterned siding in grays and browns, evoking stone walls in the country. There are dove, lion and elephant figurines, white as alabaster, animating the tops of fences. And then there are the bright chrome and gold railings, glittering like mirrors. All of which helps guarantee that no two properties end up too much alike. In many ways, putting an expressive stamp on the area has also been an act of celebration on the part of the African-American population that migrated here from Manhattan and Brooklyn from the 1940s through the "60s. Trading cramped apartments in run-down areas for roomy spreads in just-built neighborhoods bordered on a cathartic experience, some veterans of that era explain. "It was really opening up racially back then, and it was exciting to be here," said Julia Rinehardt, who in the 1950s, after her wedding, decided to say goodbye to her Harlem rental and relocate to Springfield Gardens. Ms. Rinehardt's two-family colonial, built in the 1920s, provided plenty of space to raise three children. But it also, she said, connected her to her history: before World War II, when her family moved to New York to find work, they had had a similar house in Jacksonville, Fla. True to neighborhood form, the six-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath house is colorful. The squash-toned top stories are paired with a henna one below. And red and white paint stripes the brick wall out front. In 1957 the house cost $17,000, said Ms. Rinehardt, 89, who worked for the city's Department of Social Services. Today it might bring $400,000, she said, basing her estimate on a recent appraisal. Civil servants also flocked to Rochdale Village, a 5,860-unit Mitchell-Lama co-op that opened in 1963 and was the country's largest until Co-op City went up in the Bronx some years later. Sprawling across a 20-building campus, Rochdale was founded with strict rules to guarantee affordability. Even today, the top allowable income for a family of six in a three-bedroom is $148,000. In the early 1960s, Nesbitt Benjamin was living in an apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. He was tantalized by Rochdale's stated mission to provide a clean, safe and racially homogeneous environment. In 1964, for a $5,000 down payment and about $125 a month, Mr. Benjamin was awarded a two-bedroom one-bath apartment at Rochdale, with a terrace that provides views of Coney Island. At first the racial balance was impressive: of the seven units on his floor, white families lived in four, and black families in three. Today there's a white family in one unit, and black families in six, roughly in line with the mix in the area, but any ebb in diversity is hardly a reason to leave. "It has been a joy to be here," said Mr. Benjamin, 80, who is retired from a career with the Transit Police. This is the best place in the world. The diamond-shaped neighborhood, which covers nearly three square miles, is crisscrossed by busy boulevards. In between are quieter blocks, lined with sidewalks, trees and a few lawns; some seem more like the suburban Springfield in "The Simpsons" than any New York City place. Indeed, one half expects to meet a resident who lives on the corner of Maple and Main, rather than 140th Avenue and 170th Street. On two occasions, in 2005 and again in 2011, the city rezoned parts of the area to preserve its low-slung profile, though developers have made incursions. Newer multifamilies with four units packed under one roof face 141st Avenue, for example, across from more spacious standalone properties. The population of 52,000 is about 90 percent black, according to census data. Many are from the Caribbean, or have relatives who are; Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad are well represented. Twenty years ago, violent crime was severe, though it has mellowed somewhat. In 1993 there were 39 murders in the 113th Precinct, which also covers higher-crime South Jamaica; in 2001 the number was 10, according to New York Police Department figures. Last year there were 17, and this year 16 so far. Residents point to the positive trends. And many praise the Springfield Gardens United Methodist Church, a parish that dates to the late 1800s. Its pastor, Cecil B. Stone, they say, has led a push in the last two decades to get more young parishioners to attend college. In mid-November there were 98 homes for sale in the 11413 ZIP code, which covers about half the neighborhood; the average list price was $364,000, according to data from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. The properties ranged from a detached one-family colonial, near busy 147th Avenue, at $129,000, to a detached two-family colonial, with seven bedrooms and three and a half baths, at $650,000. Separately, at Rochdale, one-bedrooms start at $7,200, with about $700 in monthly charges.