With its numerous delicious eateries, close proximity to the city, great schools, larger than average lots, and a good bang for your buck, it’s no wonder people are flocking to Livingston! Because Livingston does not have the direct train to the city, you will get more for your money here than you could in neighboring towns like Short Hills or Summit.
Livingston is home to several townhouse and condominium complexes. Whether you are looking for 55+ one floor living, or are interested in purchasing within a townhouse community, check out the many options that Livingston offers.
Livingston School Information
Livingston High School was the 8th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 305 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine’s August 2018 Top Public High School list. The report is produced every two years, and the 2020 rankings will be available in August, 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic they have not yet updated the 2020 stats.
Public Elementary Schools
The Livingston Township public schools serve students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade. There are six elementary schools- Burnet Hill School (PreK-5), Collins Elementary School (K-5), Harrison Elementary School (K-5), Hillside Elementary School (K-5), Mount Pleasant Elementary School (K-5), Riker Hill Elementary School (K-5), Mt. Pleasant Middle School (6), Heritage Middle School (7 & 8), and Livingston High School (9-12).
Other schools
In addition to the very strong public educational system within Livingston Township, there are also several private institutions. Aquinas Academy is a private coeducational Roman Catholic school that serves students from preschool through eighth grade that operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy is a private coeducational Jewish day school that serves preschool through eighth grade. Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School is a four-year yeshiva high school for grades 9–12. Newark Academy is a private coeducational day school for grades 6–12. The Tzedek School is a non-sectarian co-educational school of Jewish Heritage and Hebrew Language serving the communities of Livingston and the surrounding area for students in grades K-12. Livingston Chinese School and Livingston Huaxia Chinese School are two weekend Chinese-language schools in Livingston which use facilities of Heritage Middle School and Mount Pleasant school.
Livingston Commuting Information
Although Livingston does not have a direct train to NYC, there are other options for commuting. Starting September 2012, Livingston will be running a Jitney to South Orange Train Station. For example, there are several buses that pass through Livingston every day. Another option is to drive about 15 minutes to the Harrison train station and take the PATH in. Or, you could drive 25 minutes to Secaucus, where the NJ Transit trains to the city run approximately every ten minutes during rush hour.
Livingston is located about 22 miles from New York City. There is a Coach USA (Community Coach) bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and a New Jersey Transit bus service to Newark Penn Station running through the center of Livingston. New Jersey Transit train service and the PATH can be reached by car or taxi. Bus service to Newark is available on the 70, 71 and 73 routes, with local service available on the MCM3 and MCM8.
In and near Livingston are Eisenhower Parkway, County Route 508, County Route 527, Interstate 280, Route 10 and the Morristown and Erie Railway.
Livingston is also a quick drive to Manhattan — approximately 35 minutes without traffic. Conveniently located near Route 24, there is easy access to I-78, I-287, The New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and Route 280. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) is only a 25 minute drive away.
Livingston Downtown and Parks
Shopping and dining
There are three main shopping areas. The first area is located in the center of the town. It stretches along Livingston Avenue from Route 10 to Northfield Road. Historically, the area had been dominated by small local shops and restaurants. With recent addition of Livingston Town Center, more well-known stores have been opened in the area such as Starbucks.
The second area is the Livingston Mall located at the south-western corner of the town. Macy’s, and Lord & Taylor department stores are located in the original three wings of the mall. The fourth wing was added in 2008 as a new home of Barnes & Noble.
The third shopping area is located at the outer skirt of the town on the western side. It is the starting point of Route 10 shopping corridor that extends to East Hanover. The corridor is home of many major big-box stores. Most of those stores are located within East Hanover’s border.
There are three supermarkets in the town — Shoprite, A&P and Kings. Additional specialty food stores such as Kam Man Food – Asian food supermarket, and Whole Foods Market are located in neighboring towns.
Offices and other services
Many office parks are located along Eisenhower Parkway on the western side of the town. There are a few headquarters of major companies including CIT Group corporate headquarters, Inteplast Group headquarters, The Briad Group headquarters, and customer service and support center of Verizon New Jersey.
There are varieties of other services in the town. A Little Taste of Purple– a personalized winemaking school, and Westminster– a four diamond luxury hotel – are located in the western side of the town. Saint Barnabas Medical Center – a 597-bed hospital – is located in the southern side of the town near West Orange and Millburn. Saint Barnabas Medical Center was ranked the 13th best hospital in the United States by AARP Modern Maturity Magazine for quality of care for adults at acute care hospitals in major metropolitan areas. It also received high scores for its specialties from U.S. News & World Report: the 2nd highest score in New Jersey for Neurology and Neurosurgery; the 3rd highest score in New Jersey for Kidney disease; and the 4th highest score in New Jersey for Cancer, Gynecology, and Urology. Livingston has a few well-known fitness facilities including West Essex YMCA, New York Sports Club, and Curves for Women.
Livingston also has a local Public-access television station (Livingston TV on Comcast TV-34 and Verizon FiOS 26), which is maintained by Livingston High School Students as well as the Livingston Public Broadcasting Committee.
Parks
There are more than 470 acres of wooded parks with passive hiking trails in Livingston. Additional 1,817 acres are zoned to be preserved in its natural state without public access. This brings to about 25% of total land in the town that is in its natural conditions with habitats of eight threatened or endangered species.
There are many smaller parks and open space that are integrated with recreational and municipal sport facilities. These include two swimming pools, ten little league baseball diamonds, four full baseball diamonds, eight full soccer/lacrosse fields, one full football field, three basket ball courts, sixteen tennis courts, eleven playgrounds, a jogging track, a dog park, and a fishing/ice skating pond. The township is in the planning stage to build inter-connected mixed-used paths, biking and hiking trails to connect those parks and open space throughout the town.
Livingston has an active open space trust fund that continues to acquire more lands for preservation and recreation. As of 2003, there were 842 acres (9% of total land) that were protected from development. There were additional 2,475 acres that could be protected by the fund.
Riker Hill Complex
Riker Hill Complex (also referred to as Riker Hill Park) is a 204.68-acre parkland located along the border of Livingston and Roseland. The complex is managed by Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs of Essex County. It comprises three parks, Riker Hill Art Park – a former Nike Missile control area site, Walter Kidde Dinosaur Park – a National Natural Landmark, and Becker Park which were acquired between 1969 to 1977. Although a large portion of the complex is located within Roseland, but the county designated Livingston as the host community as the Riker Hill Art Park is the only functional and publicly accessible park at the present time. The art park located atop of the hill is home of many studios in multiple disciplines of art and craft.
Recreation
Recreation department under the Senior, Youth & Leisure Services offers many programs for residents ranging from pre-school courses, children games, crafts, and dance; to a dozen of youth and adult sports programs. Livingston residents can also apply for memberships of public golf courses at Francis Byrne Golf Course in West Orange and Millburn Municipal Golf Course in Millburn Township. Additionally, there are many independent sports organizations such as Livingston Little League, Livingston Jr. Lancers (football & cheerleading), Livingston Lacrosse Club, and Livingston Soccer Club.
An Essex County park complex is located one mile from Livingston with Turtle Back Zoo, Richard J. Codey Arena (an ice hockey/ice skating arena), and natural trails in South Mountain Reservation.
