Originally Posted by
Jughead
My 2 cents - I've lived here most of my life (E.Cobb/N.Fulton). Like it a lot - government schools here are about as good as it gets in GA (Walton, Pope, or Lassiter district). Houses are plentiful and Delta guy affordable and run the spectrum in price, depending on what you want. Upside is it's not base housing. Golf carts don't do much for me if I'm not golfing. 45 mins to parking lot, no matter which route I take.
Traffic stinks during AM and PM rush hours. But I also understand there's usually traffic in places where people want to live.
Another vote for East Cobb (taxes less than Fulton and Delta 767 LCA is our Commissioner). What the other poster's have not mentioned is the quality of local amenities. Around my house we have a running track, thee playgrounds, an aquatic center (indoor, nice), tennis, baseball and about any other sort of sports you can imagine. 45 minutes to the airport, 45 minutes to Amicoloa Falls, 5 general aviation airports within a 45 minute drive, two within 15 minutes. Hangars run $300 to $400 depending on what you want and how far you'll drive. As others have mentioned the schools are the best ranked in the State.
Roswell and Marietta have nice districts with restored city squares and pleasant (middle of the road) restaurants. Marietta actually has an old Theater that was recently restored and has stuff that you and your family will probably enjoy seeing. You might even catch your Dudeness playing a little guitar.
One of the other posters mentioned Decatur, Inman Park, Virginia Highlands and Symrna / Vinnings. All those can be nice places to live, but as he mentioned they have issues, particularly if you don't plan on sending the kiddos to a private school. I really like Decatur, but the local political situation is nuts and heaven help you if you or a family member ever receive any attention from their government.
This Spring there are a lot of home tours and festivals. One of my favorite is Inman Park's:
Inman Park Festival | Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes – April 27 – 29, 2012
Check it out, you'll really have a lot of fun. Try to catch the "Seed and Feed Marching Abominables" if you can.