Flushing has always been growing. Back when George Washington visited, it was the nurseries and their flowers that were growing. These days it's the skyline.

Already the biggest urban center in Queens, Flushing is about to get bigger. Three major plans are in the works:

• In July Mayor Bloomberg announced Flushing Commons, a joint venture of The Rockefeller Development Corporation and local developer TDC Development and Construction Corporation, transforming the main municipal parking lot into a new town square (350,000 sq. ft. retail space, 500 apartments, underground parking, hotel);
• Announced last year, Muss Development will build a shopping mall/residential tower at College Point and Roosevelt overlooking Flushing River (750,000 sq. ft. retail center with 1,200 residential units);
• And to top it off, the Mets will get a new stadium in 2009, transforming gritty Willets Point (maybe into a Tivoli Gardens).

Even without these big plans, construction throughout the downtown is raising taller buildings, adding wonderfully to rush hour congestion. It's all in an area that not so many years ago needed some, err, flushing away (and I don't mean the old ash heap dubbed the Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby).

Learn more about the neighborhood, its urban center and suburban outskirts, in this Flushing profile. And take a visual tour through these photos of the neighborhood and its landmarks.

• Photos of Flushing, Queens