HEARTLAND VILLAGE
Geographic Setting
Bounded by Ashworth Avenue to the north, Forest Hill Road to the east, Richmond Hill Road to the south, and Richmond Avenue to the west, Heartland Village lies at the geographical and symbolic center of Staten Island—an expansive residential community that epitomizes the borough’s postwar suburban transformation. Nestled between the historic corridor of Richmondtown to the southeast and the commercial hub of New Springville to the west, Heartland Village occupies a plateau of gently rolling terrain once blanketed by farmland and forests.
Today, the neighborhood is defined by its wide residential streets, manicured lawns, and cul-de-sacs branching outward from the major arteries of Richmond Avenue and Forest Hill Road. The Staten Island Mall, just beyond its western boundary, forms the area’s retail anchor, while the surrounding landscape includes schools, parks, and community centers that sustain a strong neighborhood identity. Despite its relatively recent origins, Heartland Village possesses a distinct sense of place—open, orderly, and quintessentially suburban, yet framed by the wooded backdrop of Staten Island’s central hills.
Etymology
The name Heartland Village reflects both geography and intention. When developers began planning the neighborhood in the late 1960s and early 1970s, they sought a name that captured its location at the “heart” of Staten Island. “Heartland” evoked the vision of an ideal suburban center—an organized, family-oriented community built at the literal midpoint of the borough’s new era of growth. The word “Village” was chosen to soften the modernism of its design with an air of community tradition.
Unlike many Staten Island neighborhoods rooted in colonial history or family estates, Heartland Village was born from the language of modern suburbia—a name crafted to project optimism, unity, and the promise of middle-class stability. It remains one of the few neighborhoods on the island whose name directly symbolizes the new suburban identity that reshaped Staten Island in the second half of the 20th century.
The Neighborhood
Origins through the 19th Century
Long before suburban development, the land that became Heartland Village lay within the rural township of Northfield, a region of scattered farms and woodlots extending from Richmond Avenue eastward toward the Greenbelt. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this landscape consisted of agricultural tracts worked by descendants of Dutch and English settlers, who cultivated crops and grazed livestock on gently undulating terrain. Dirt lanes and cart paths connected the farms to Richmond Road and to the village of Richmondtown, the island’s early administrative and commercial center.
Through most of the 19th century, the area remained sparsely settled. The nearest communities—Willowbrook, New Springville, and Richmondtown—were linked by narrow rural roads that wound through fields, creeks, and stands of oak and chestnut. The arrival of the Staten Island Railway in 1860 spurred growth along the island’s perimeter, but the central plateau remained isolated—its open spaces serving as pastureland and, by the early 20th century, as municipal property for facilities like the Willowbrook State School and LaTourette Golf Course. The idea of a dense, planned neighborhood at Staten Island’s center was unimaginable in that era; the land’s destiny as a suburban village would emerge only after the island’s integration into the city’s modern infrastructure network.
Mid–Late 20th Century: The Birth of a Suburban Heart
Heartland Village was conceived in the aftermath of Staten Island’s greatest transformation—the opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (1964). The bridge’s completion connected Staten Island to Brooklyn and unleashed a wave of residential expansion across the borough. The island’s central plateau, long inaccessible, suddenly became prime real estate for developers seeking to build modern homes for families migrating from the other boroughs.
By the early 1970s, large-scale planning and construction began across the area bounded by Richmond Avenue, Forest Hill Road, and Richmond Hill Road. Developers such as Abraham Levitt & Sons and Gross-Morton Builders laid out streets, utilities, and cul-de-sacs designed to evoke the suburban ideal: privacy, open space, and proximity to shopping and schools. The neighborhood’s very layout—with curved drives and cul-de-sacs rather than grids—reflected contemporary design philosophies emphasizing safety and community over density.
The completion of the Staten Island Mall (1973) at Richmond Avenue and Platinum Avenue transformed the adjoining area into a retail and transportation hub, cementing Heartland Village’s role as the residential core of the “New Staten Island.” Nearby schools such as P.S. 58 (The Space Shuttle Columbia School) and I.S. 72 (Rocco Laurie Intermediate School) opened to serve the influx of families, while tree planting and greenbelt protections maintained a sense of balance with nature. By the 1980s, Heartland Village had become the epitome of Staten Island’s suburban promise—modern, organized, and upwardly mobile.
Late 20th Century: Maturity and Community Formation
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Heartland Village matured into a cohesive community. Its architecture—predominantly detached homes, townhouses, and garden condominiums—developed a consistent aesthetic marked by brick facades, front porches, and neatly kept yards. The area’s schools, parks, and shopping centers fostered a self-sufficient neighborhood identity, while its location near major roadways made commuting to Manhattan and Brooklyn practical.
Civic associations and homeowners’ groups emerged to manage growth and advocate for infrastructure improvements. The construction of the College of Staten Island (CSI) campus in nearby Willowbrook (completed in 1993) further elevated the area’s educational and cultural profile. At the same time, environmental awareness began to shape local priorities: community efforts helped preserve open spaces such as the Willowbrook Park portion of the Greenbelt and limit overdevelopment near Forest Hill Road.
The population became increasingly diverse, with second- and third-generation Staten Islanders joined by families of Eastern European, Asian, and Caribbean heritage. Despite its modern origins, Heartland Village acquired the texture of an established community—a place where suburban architecture and human connection blended into a stable civic landscape.
21st Century: The Modern Heart of Staten Island
In the 21st century, Heartland Village remains one of Staten Island’s most dynamic and representative neighborhoods—a microcosm of the borough’s suburban life. Its proximity to the Staten Island Mall, major schools, and the College of Staten Island continues to make it a focal point of commerce, education, and family activity. Well-maintained homes and condominiums, wide sidewalks, and access to multiple parks give the neighborhood an enduring sense of comfort and accessibility.
The area’s strong civic fabric is reinforced by active community boards and environmental stewardship programs. The surrounding Willowbrook Park and LaTourette Park serve as green lungs for the community, offering residents trails, playgrounds, and nature preserves within walking distance. While increased traffic and ongoing development along Richmond Avenue have brought modern challenges, Heartland Village continues to embody the postwar ideal of planned suburbia within a major city—orderly, livable, and family-centered.
Demographically, it remains one of Staten Island’s most diverse and educated populations, with a growing mix of professionals, educators, and small business owners who sustain local vitality. Heartland Village has successfully matured into what its founders envisioned: a balanced urban-suburban heart that combines convenience, greenery, and community pride.
Spirit and Legacy
The spirit of Heartland Village lies in its name—a community built intentionally at Staten Island’s center, both geographically and symbolically. It represents the borough’s mid-20th-century transformation from rural hinterland to suburban stronghold, and its enduring promise of homeownership, family life, and neighborhood cohesion.
Its legacy is one of purposeful design and lived stability. The curved roads, manicured lawns, and generous parks reflect the optimism of its founding era, while its diversity and civic engagement reflect the borough’s modern evolution. Though it lacks the centuries-old history of Staten Island’s coastal villages, Heartland Village possesses its own form of heritage—the legacy of a new beginning.
New York City
Use this custom Google map to explore where every neighborhood in all five boroughs of New York City is located.
The Five Boroughs
One of New York City’s unique qualities is its organization in to 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. These boroughs are part pragmatic administrative districts, and part vestiges of the region’s past. Each borough is an entire county in New York State - in fact, Brooklyn is, officially, Kings County, while Staten Island is, officially Richmond County. But that’s not the whole story …
Initially, New York City was located on the southern tip of Manhattan (now the Financial District) that was once the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Across the East River, another city was rising: Brooklyn. In time, the city planners realized that unification between the rapidly rising cities would create commercial and industrial opportunities - through streamlined administration of the region.
So powerful was the pull of unification between New York and Brooklyn that three more counties were pulled into the unification: The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. And on January 1, 1898, the City of New York unified two cities and three counties into one Greater City of New York - containing the five boroughs we know today.
But because each borough developed differently and distinctly until unification, their neighborhoods likewise uniquely developed. Today, there are nearly 390 neighborhoods, each with their own histories, cultures, cuisines, and personalities - and each with residents who are fiercely proud of their corner of The Big Apple.
