Where are some good places to move near Georgia?

Georgia Natives/Residents. Please Help. Listen...?

• My service will be up in a month, and i'm coming back home to sh*tty Southern California. No way i can raise a family or live a decent life there, So i'm wanting to seriously move to Georgia. I've been to Georgia many times since i was 6 years old when my mom and step dad moved there. I love it. It's such a nice place. I have family in Lawrenceville and also in Canton, but those places are not my most desirable places to live. Now, My mom and step dad have lived in Roswell twice, and Douglasville as well. Douglasville ain't my cup of tea, but Roswell was pretty nice. Though i heard it's a bit pricey, i heard it's a well-maintained city.Low crime rate, which i like. I've also checked into Alpharetta and Marietta. Not too sure about those places though. Now tell me, where's the best ideal place to buy a home and settle down into? I'd like to live in a town with a track home community, not to far from Atlanta, Low crime rate, Wide employment availability. An interesting, yet, sophisticated place with lots of Diversity. Does such a place exist there? I bet it does. If so, then where? And what can you tell me about that place? Also, Is west Atlanta a bad place? I checked into a few houses that go for pretty cheap that were west of the freeway/interstate and it seems like a nice, un-spoiled town.

• Answer:

  Since you've been here many times, you've already got a feel for the area. My advice is, live here for a year and rent an apartment, before you actually buy something. During that year, you'll hopefully find a job and develop a social network - both of which will help determine where you want to settle. I agree with you about Douglasville. It's not my kind of place. When I decided to move here, my friends (who lived in Alpharetta) directed me to apartment complexes in Roswell. I liked Roswell very much, but when I decided to buy a place, I chose Smyrna. (I liked the proximity to Atlanta, the shorter commute to work, and the small-town feel to the city.) When I got married, I knew I wanted to upgrade our school district, so we ended up in northeast Cobb. I guess what I'm trying to say is, where you are in your life will dictate where you'll want to move to. I used to live in southern California, too -- I really loved it there -- but I knew it wouldn't be the place where I would forge a great life for myself. Welcome to Atlanta!