South of Cobble Hill and north of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens was long simply part of the latter neighborhood. Then the Gowanus Expressway opened in 1941 and the two areas diverged, though it wasn’t until the 1960s that the name Carroll Gardens was coined and took hold. The area’s history as part of Red Hook is still in the air, and it's home to a terrific array of restaurants, bakeries, and coffeeshops popular with tourists and locals alike. Carroll Gardens is also known for the unusual shape of the lots on many streets, with houses having large front yards thanks to the original 1846 street plan for the development. Many of them are lush and green with plants, hence the “gardens” in the neighborhood’s name.