Recently, Niche released its rankings for Best Places to Live for 2024. The Village of Great Neck Plaza was ranked the number one place to live in New York State.
The ranking is based on multiple factors, including public schools, housing, diversity, weather, jobs, and more. Great Neck Plaza’s high scores in all categories made the village the number one best place to live out of 909 other areas in New York.
In addition, the village was ranked as the number one best suburb to live in and the number two best suburb for young professionals to live in.
According to Niche, “Great Neck Plaza is a suburb of New York City with a population of 7,443. Living in Great Neck Plaza offers residents a dense urban feel and most residents own their homes. In Great Neck Plaza there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many retirees live in Great Neck Plaza. The public schools in Great Neck Plaza are highly rated.”
Niche says that its grades and rankings are calculated using dozens of public data sets and millions of reviews. Niche’s data scientists gather data and reviews from public data sources and reviews from residents, parents and students. After the data is collected, the team analyzes and compares the information to produce the grades and rankings.
“We’re obviously very, very proud that Niche gave us these rankings,” said Great Neck Plaza Mayor Ted Rosen. “The rankings kind of confirm something that me and my colleagues in the government already know: that Great Neck Plaza is a very nice place to live, to work, to shop and to raise a family. We’re very proud of that.”
When asked about what makes Great Neck Plaza so special, Mayor Rosen said, “Obviously, I’m biased. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but I think it’s a combination of things.”
Great Neck consistently receives high rankings for its public schools, outdoor activities, nightlife, and commute. Its public school system has been recognized by multiple organizations for its academic achievements over the years. On Niche’s list of the Best Public Schools in New York, Great Neck South High School ranks number 10, with the other elementary and middle schools following it not much further down the list.
“We have a vibrant downtown, which is very important. It is a walkable downtown. The school system in Great Neck is outstanding. The park district is magnificent, they maintain beautiful parks. The library system is great,” Mayor Rosen listed. “The access to commuting into Manhattan is probably one of the best commutes of any suburb on the Island.”
The Great Neck station is a stop on the Port Washington LIRR Branch. Great Neck has many express trains that offer commuters a ride of about 25 minutes into the city and the regular trains that stop more often are only about 35 minutes.
“Also, the Port Washington branch doesn’t go through the Jamaica hub,” said Mayor Rosen. “So our commuters avoid possible problems in and around Jamaica during the rush hours.”
“I’m also very proud of the fact that we have a very diverse community,” said Mayor Rosen. “And I think that’s something to celebrate, that we have many residents from different backgrounds.”
In addition to Great Neck Plaza, other villages in the Great Neck area received high ratings on the Best Places to Live in New York list, such as: Great Neck Gardens (#3), Kensington (#4), Russell Gardens (#22), Lake Success (#46) and Thomaston (#48).
Visit niche.com to view Great Neck Plaza’s report card.
