Best Places To Live, Eat, Play On Long Island: 2023 Recap

LONG ISLAND, NY — Some of the best places to live in the country are towns and cities on Long Island, according to a handful of national rankings released in 2023 that look at quality of life indicators.

Great communities have excellent schools, high-quality health care and good career opportunities, but also great places to eat and play.

Publications such as U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, along with the ratings and review site Niche, used different methodologies to compile their lists. Read more about why Long Island's towns and villages were mentioned in these rankings:

• Niche Best Places To Live
  • Great Neck Gardens, Great Neck Plaza, Herricks, Syosset, Kensington, Lake Success, Plainview and East Williston cracked the top 100. Great Neck Gardens (No. 10), Great Neck Plaza (No. 13) and Herricks (No. 22) cracked the top 25.
• Niche Best Towns And Cities
  • Great Neck Gardens, Great Neck Plaza and Herricks retained their spots in this list, but Syosset placed No. 25. Kensington, Lake Success, Plainview and East Williston also made the top 100. Old Bethpage placed at No. 117.

Several Long Island eateries were featured prominently in other lists. Read more:

• 4 Long Island Pizzerias Make New Ranking For Best In Region
  • Four pizzerias on Long Island are among the best in the country, according to a new national directory of regional pizza styles created by The Washington Post using Yelp data: Saverio's Authentic Pizza Napoletana of Massapequa; Taglio Pizza of Mineola; Dough & Co. Pizza of Huntington; Eddie's Pizza of New Hyde Park.
• Top Burgers On Long Island Picked: Patch Readers
  • Patch readers selected All-American Drive-In in Massapequa as the best burger joint in Nassau County and The Golden Globe Diner in Huntington as the best burger in Suffolk.
• The Ultimate List Of LI's Best Ice Cream Spots: Patch Readers
  • Check out a list of Patch readers' favorite ice cream spots on Long Island!