Beverly Shores or Long Beach: Which Lakefront Community Fits You?
June 11, 2026
June 11, 2026
Wondering whether Beverly Shores or Long Beach is the better fit for your lakefront goals? If you are dreaming about life near Lake Michigan, the right choice often comes down to how you want to spend your time, how much space you want around you, and what kind of community setting feels most natural. Here is a practical look at both towns so you can compare their character, housing patterns, and everyday lifestyle with more confidence. Let’s dive in.
Both communities offer small-town living along Lake Michigan, but they feel different once you look past the shoreline. Long Beach is the larger of the two by current estimate, with 1,158 residents in 2025, while Beverly Shores has 601 residents. That difference shows up in the overall layout, amenities, and how each place functions day to day.
Beverly Shores is shaped by low-density planning and preservation priorities. Its 2025 plan update notes a 20,000-square-foot minimum building parcel size and emphasizes physical site conditions that limit density. Long Beach, by contrast, is described in its adopted comprehensive plan as a platted single-family community built around a golf course with about 1,650 single-family home sites.
If you want a quieter setting with a strong connection to dunes, parks, and open space, Beverly Shores stands out. The town’s public materials point to a beach- and preservation-oriented identity, with ongoing attention to beach access, lakefront restoration, green space, and public safety.
Official visitor information lists parking access for Lakeview, Kemil Beach, and Dunbar Beach. National Park Service information also notes that Beverly Shores Station serves the Calumet Dunes Trail, Dunewood Campground, and Lake View Beach, with Dunbar Beach offering parking and restrooms.
Beverly Shores tends to appeal to buyers who want more breathing room around their home. The town must maintain the 20,000-square-foot minimum parcel size, which helps support a more spacious and low-density development pattern.
The local Green Space Initiative adds another layer to that character. Property owners can donate lots to be held as protected green space in perpetuity, reinforcing the town’s preservation-first approach. For buyers, that can mean a setting that feels more natural and less built up.
Beverly Shores may be the better fit if you are not looking for a long list of in-town civic amenities. Its public-facing materials focus more on preservation, beach rules, beach parking, and municipal services than on programmed community activity.
That does not mean there is nothing to do. It means the lifestyle leans more toward beach time, trails, quiet surroundings, and access to natural features rather than a built-in calendar of town-centered events and programs.
Long Beach has a more formal neighborhood pattern and a stronger sense of built community infrastructure. The town plan describes it as a single-family community with multiple residential districts, local business areas, and public or semi-public spaces.
That structure can be appealing if you want a more traditional beach-town layout. The official planning documents also include detailed standards for setbacks, lot coverage, building height, decks, front yards, triangular lots, reverse lots, and vision clearance, which reflects a more defined development framework.
Long Beach offers more built-in civic and social infrastructure than Beverly Shores. The Community Center hosts the YMCA along with classes and workshops, and the Parks Board oversees recreation programming.
The comprehensive plan also highlights public gathering spaces such as Beach Stop 24, the Pump House, and Moon Valley. If you like the idea of a lake community with organized spaces for recreation and community life, Long Beach may feel more connected in that way.
Beach access is important in both towns, but Long Beach emphasizes town-owned beach stops and public connections to the shoreline. Its comprehensive plan states that the town will preserve shoreline access through public beach stops and prioritize bike and pedestrian routes to the beachfront.
That creates a different rhythm from Beverly Shores. Rather than feeling centered on dune adjacency and park access, Long Beach feels more organized around shared public shoreline points and connected neighborhood spaces.
Beverly Shores is the more conservation-constrained market of the two. The town issued 65 permits in 2024, including 3 new-home permits, and its planning framework reinforces low density and parcel size requirements.
For you as a buyer, that can translate into a market where the physical setting and local rules play a major role in what gets built and how properties are used. If you value space, privacy, and preservation, that may be a plus.
Long Beach reads more like an established single-family beach community. According to census data cited in the town plan, 99.7% of housing units were single-family homes, and 81.4% of vacant units were seasonal, recreational, or occasional homes.
That mix may appeal if you are shopping for a primary home, second home, or a property in a community where seasonal ownership is already part of the local pattern. The single-family focus is especially clear in the town’s land-use and development standards.
If rental flexibility matters to you, Long Beach has an important planning factor to understand. The town keeps a 30-day minimum rental period, according to its comprehensive plan.
That does not make it right or wrong for a purchase, but it does affect how you should evaluate a property if you are thinking about part-time use or rental income. Buyers considering any investment angle should factor local rules into the decision early.
The best choice depends less on which town is "better" and more on how you want to live. If your ideal weekend includes trails, dunes, and a more secluded feel, Beverly Shores may line up better with your goals. If you want beach access plus community spaces, programs, and a more defined neighborhood structure, Long Beach may be the stronger fit.
This is where local guidance matters. On paper, both towns can look similar because they share the Lake Michigan shoreline. In practice, they offer different experiences, and understanding those differences can save you time and help you focus on the homes that truly match your lifestyle.
If you are comparing Beverly Shores and Long Beach and want candid, local guidance on what fits your goals, Giorgios Karayannis can help you weigh the lifestyle, property, and long-term value factors with a clear plan.
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