Glen Cove, New York

Glen Cove has just about everything you’d want in a home base: beaches, parks and a walkable downtown with tons of restaurants and shopping. There’s also easy access to the best of Long Island’s North Shore, as well as the heart of New York City (you can reach the latter in a little over an hour by train). With 10 miles of shoreline at their disposal, residents of Glen Cove have ample opportunities to get out on the water. There’s a marina, multiple yacht clubs and options for boat charters to paddle boarding, sailing and kayaking hotspots. At the popular Garvies Point Preserve, visitors can enjoy 62 acres of forest, wetlands and Long Island Sound shoreline along with walking trails, bird and butterfly gardens and even a museum with archaeological exhibits. Hundreds of new apartments have cropped up around town and along the revitalized waterfront over the last decade or so. Recent development on Garvies Point includes some of those apartments, plus retail shops, boat slips and an amphitheater. Construction also began on a new affordable housing development in town last summer. — Sarah Hansen