Atlantans -- neighborhood questions [View All]

[Flaxbee]

My husband and I are thinking of moving back into the Atlanta area; we lived there once before in 1999/2000 in Dunwoody in an apartment complex that I despised. We're hoping to buy a small house with a yard that would keep three kitties happy, possibly a fixer-upper (but not toooo much of a fixer upper - something that can be lived in while being fixed-up) in a good neighborhood but the Atlanta area is just so HUGE that I don't know where to start.

I don't know where either of us will be working (my husband often has contracts that allow him to work from home and I'll just look for work within a decent commute distance), so that isn't a consideration at this point. Right now we're in western NC and drive down into Atlanta on 23/85 (boy that area has grown!!) - what is the scuttlebut on Gainesville/Buford/Duluth? What about areas closer into the heart of the city? What about areas along 75?

Anyone have any opinions? Any suggestions are appreciated; I feel overwhelmed right now and don't know where to start looking.