Choosing between Swuanne or Rosswell (Atlanta, Roswell: transplants, sale, houses)

[Mara71]

I'm relocating to Ga from NJ and I need help deciding between these two areas. I have a one year old and a 14 year old. Both Swuanne and Rosswell seem like very desirable and affordable areas. We're looking to spend in the mid 200's for a home and of course we'd like to have nice schools. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
ps I'm not too concerned about traffic, we're used to it in NJ

[LawrencevilleGA]

Hey
My family and I just moved from Monmouth County, NJ
We ended up in Lawrenceville, It's about 20 mins East of Suwannee,and 35 mins northeast of Roswell.
Roswell is more developed than Suwannee is. Suwannee, like Lawrenceville, is just starting to feel the pinch of sprawl. I would say Roswell has already been bitten by the sprawl bug. I'm not saying it's not a nice place to live by any means. Your housing per dollar is going to be slightly less than in Suwannee.
The rule of thumb I learned early on in our house hunting.
Stay outside of the Perimeter (285) It runs all the way around the city of Atlanta. Look on the map you'll see it. The traffic can/is horrible inside the Perimeter most of the times. Outside the perimeter is bad during rush hour, but not so bad in off hours. (Even though I was used to traffic in Jersey, it's nothing compared to the traffic here!)
The closer you are to the perimeter and the city (in the nicer communities) the more you'll pay.
I say lean towards Suwannee. We went to a friends house there for Xmas. I was amazed at their house. I thought my 2600 sq house was pretty big. They had a 4000sq house. Albeit on a smaller lot.1/3 acre Mine is a 3/4 acre. We paid 180K they paid 275K 2-3 years ago. These are houses less than a decade old too.
Any questions please feel free to ask.
I'm a Jersey Person like you, so I know what your used to up there.
Take care
It also depends on where u plan on working. We found jobs after moving here. We made a lot on money on our sale up there, we were able to take a break from working for a few months.

[jxu66]

For mid 200, Suwanee is better bet. Roswell is pretty expensive since it is closer to city. The most 200 range house in Roswell are early 80's and small house. In Suwanee, you can still get nice houses in the mid 200's. Suwanee has a lot of transplants and it is pretty safe region as well. I just drove through the Suwanee today. They just built town green in the downtown Suwanee. Pretty nice.

[Mara71]

thank you so much, I really appreciate the info. I'll keep you informed.
Mara

[xxman777]

Originally Posted by LawrencevilleGA

The traffic can/is horrible inside the Perimeter most of the times. Outside the perimeter is bad during rush hour, but not so bad in off hours. (Even though I was used to traffic in Jersey, it's nothing compared to the traffic here!)

I haven't found the traffic inside the perimeter to be any worse than traffic outside. Sure I don't like to venture outside during rush hour, but during the off hours it really isn't bad. There are problem spots such as Peachtree in Buckhead, try driving near the Mall of Georgia on a Saturday. It isn't any better.