By Danielle Beadle

Car and bus horns beep as a huge crowd of pedestrians crosses against the light at Parsons Boulevard and Archer Avenue. The line at Dunkin’ Donuts extends to the entrance door as people wait for their freshly brewed coffee. Sidewalk fruit vendors do a brisk business and commuters rush down the stairs at the subway station.

This is a typical morning in Jamaica, Queens, where everyone seems to be on the go. Lately, however, more and more people have been coming to Jamaica and staying.

While Jamaica has been best known as an important transportation hub in southeastern Queens, the neighborhood in recent years has developed into an important commercial center as well as an increasingly attractive place to live.

The real estate listings website, Streeteasy.com named Jamaica its hottest neighborhood of 2016, writing: “The rise of Jamaica is due to a number of favorable factors, including a healthy growth in population since 2011, strong growth in interest among buyers and renters, comparatively low prices and convenient access to the New York City subway and Long Island Railroad systems.”

Jamaica is connected to extensive transportation links. From the AirTrain — which goes to JFK International Airport – to the Long Island Rail Road, to the E, J, Z subway trains to more than 20 MTA buses passing through the area.

“Living in Jamaica has any perks,” said Sean Beckford, a Jamaica resident. “You’ll shop at dollar stores and love it. Whatever you’re looking for, we do it better and for cheaper and again the transportation is really great”.

Along with the transportation, Jamaica also has a bustling commercial corridor, offering a variety of fashionable retail, performing arts venues, and anchor institutions such as CUNY York College, as well as 150,000 residents, according to the Economic Development Corporation of New York City.

More developments are in the works. According to reports issued by Queens Community Board 12, new projects include affordable housing and a hotel, improving the livability of the neighborhood through investments in safety measures, green spaces and more.

Downtown Jamaica was rezoned in 2007 to build upon Jamaica’s strengths as a multimodal transportation hub to support the downtown business district, expand housing and economic opportunities along the area’s major streets and transportation corridors, protect adjacent low‐density neighborhoods, and create affordable housing according to The Archer Towers Memorandum. This Memorandum was prepared by Cushman & Wakefield based primarily on information supplied by Managing Member. It contains information about Projects and the real estate markets developing in Jamaica.

The global recession that happened shortly thereafter caused a lull in development, and as the markets have gradually recovered, developers’ have been able to secure the financing necessary to proceed with development projects in the area.

Jamaica is expecting to have more residents, more reliable transportation, more housing and apartments in the next two years. According to a development agency in Jamaica called Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, the neighborhood has more than six developments coming to area. On the website, gjdc.org, they have listed some of their upcoming projects, including a 50,000-square-feet retail and community complex, 300 underground parking spaces and 580 units of mixed income affordable housing and a 26- story Hilton Garden Inn, which are set to start construction in the first quarter of 2017.

“The time is right to leverage this momentum and help Jamaica thrive as an attractive and affordable destination to live, work, shop, and play,” said Jim Diego, who is a senior project manager for the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. He said these developments, which fully integrate area residents into the emerging construction, hospitality and retail industries, would improve the lives of the people who live and work here.

According to a report from Community Board 12’s Land Use Committee, the city has made significant investments in recent years to lay the groundwork for increased growth and economic opportunity in Jamaica, including the investment of $1.9 billion in the construction of the AirTrain to JFK Airport in 2003 and the rezoning of 368 blocks of the downtown core in 2007.

As mentioned before, Streeteasy.com reported that rising rents in other boroughs will make Jamaica the next hottest neighborhood. But they also reported that Jamaica is less expensive than other neighborhoods in Queens. For instance, according to listings on streeteasy.com, a 2-bedroom apartment can be rented in Jamaica for $1,525, compared to $2,275 in nearby Forest Hills.

In 2013, GJDC enlisted JGSC Group to conduct a public survey to measure consumer preferences among the people who live, work, shop, dine, or otherwise visit Downtown Jamaica. The survey found that respondents shopped less frequently in Jamaica than in other places and spent four times more money shopping elsewhere than they did in Jamaica.

Respondents also mentioned that they would visit Downtown Jamaica more often if it offered more full‐service restaurants, more cafés and bistros, and more gourmet and specialty food, as well as being desirous of better merchandise selection and quality.

In the past decade, several large national retailers have shown interest in Jamaica. There is significant demand for this level of retail, and while the retail market in Downtown Jamaica is currently in a state of transition, the completion of residential developments are sure to spur on further retail attraction to the area.

Diego said these new stores will not take away services from the already existing stores. “We believe that improved retail will actually provide a diverse array of options for consumers that would patronize the stores on Jamaica Avenue, and not take away business from the existing stores there,” he said.

Additionally these new apartment buildings will be a big investment to the area and attract new residents. All of the new affordable housing slated for Jamaica is in new construction, in properties that were part of the rezoned area to accommodate higher density buildings, something that makes the development in Jamaica unique.

“I just hope these new developments will create opportunities for the young men on the street and more police awareness in the area,” said Simram Chadha, a food cart vendor in Jamaica.

The master plan for the continuing development of Jamaica will take the area to an even higher level of urbanization, which will welcome more ethnicities than what is already there.

“It is a very good melting pot for people of different communities, especially communities of the West Indies, Italian and all kind of different races, Europeans, Americans, it is a very beautiful place. A very, very promising place,” said Rafee Khairullah, who is an attorney and resident of Jamaica.