Community Corner
Summit Named One Of The Best Towns by New Jersey Monthly
Ranked # 16 out of 566 towns.
Residents likely already knew this, but Summit is one of the best places to live in New Jersey.
So says New Jersey Monthly magazine, which just released its rankings of 566 towns in the state.
Summit is Number 16 on New Jersey Monthly’s list of the Garden State’s 100 Top Towns.
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"In this year's rankings, the more affluent towns really performed he best," said New Jersey Monthly Editor Ken Schlager. "The reason seems to be that in difficult economic times, they have the resources to continue to support education an continue to support safe streets and the like in their communities."
Last year Summit was ranked 76.
Find out what's happening in Summitwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"What pulls Summit up high in the rankings is the school test results, " says New Jersey Monthly Editor Ken Schlager. The school rankings, which are based on NJ ASK and HSPA testing have Summit's school results for NJ ASK 4th Grade at a ranking of 89, NJ Ask 8th grade ranking at 91 and HSPA 11th grade at a ranking of 95 (out of 100).
The Top Towns are Ho-Ho-Kus, Peapack Gladstone, Bernards Township, Boonton Township, Rumson, Florham Park, Berkeley Heights, Bernardsville, Essex Fells, and Franklin Lakes.
"We think there is tremendous interest in knowing how towns in the state are doing in relation to other towns," Schlager said.
The 2011 list of New Jersey's Top 100 Towns was compiled for New Jersey Monthly by Leflein Associates, an independent research firm in Ringwood, NJ.
In creating the rankings, the researchers considered five categories best representing the quality of life in New Jersey’s 566 municipalities: property taxes; home values; crime rate; school performance; and a lifestyle factor based on proximity to services, entertainment and dining, as well as commute time.
Municipalities with populations below 1,500 were eliminated from the rankings, due to insufficient data.
“The 100 Top Towns” is featured in the September issue of New Jersey Monthly, which subscribers will receive after August 22 and is available on newsstands on August 30, 2011.
