The subdivision was planned by 1917 and developed in 1919 by Clark & Porter, Inc. Marketing materials stated "...no smoke, no dirt, no fogs, no two-family or apartment houses, no business places of any kind, nothing but homes.

"[3] An extension of the middle class and upper middle class Summit Avenue residential neighborhood on the other side of Onondaga Park and Hiawatha Lake, Strathmore was marketed as "an exclusive residential district" when it officially opened on September 27, 1919.

Strathmore was zoned strictly residential, allowing for only single-family and two-family homes with a garage.

It also contains many rental properties in the "less greater" section past Summit Ave. Today, the neighborhood remains desirable and attracts a diverse, solidly middle and upper middle class population of white collar, academic, and creative class professionals.

Strathmore is characterized by its Garden City town planning principles, bucolic tree-lined streets, and residential architecture of well-built Colonial Revival, Georgian, Federal, Norman French, Tudor, and Arts and Crafts style homes.