If you're looking to buy in Carle Place

 Ask folks about Carle Place and they will tell you the community has a small-town atmosphere, an award-winning school district and a convenient location near the Northern State and Meadowbrook parkways.

"People are friendly and are willing to help one another," says Carole Zeilman, a 40-year resident and agent at Rowan Real Estate, a local family-owned business. "Families live there forever," adds Vivian Arzoumanidis of Keller Williams Realty in Williston Park.

School superintendent David Flatley says the high school has been recognized as one of America's best for the past few years by various national publications, including Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. Small class size is a feature residents find attractive.

Carle Place is in the heart of Nassau County's commercial mecca, where a new 333,000-square-foot retail center -- the Gallery at Westbury Plaza -- is almost complete. But the community has a downtown to call its own along Westbury Avenue. "We have stores like the ice cream shop, the pizzeria, the deli and Cardinali Bakery," says Wendy Liotti, also of Rowan Real Estate.

A town-house development for adults 55 and older is being built on the east end of Westbury Avenue, says resident Nancy Jarvis of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty. Housing is dominated by capes, ranches and Colonials.