Buying a house near N. Druid, east or west of I-85?

[BringBackCobain]

I would go with the Dresden area, as long as the house is west of Clairmont. "Brookhaven" is slowly moving eastward up Dresden toward Clairmont Road, but it will be a decade before the gentrification crosses Clairmont. Lots of yuppies are fixing up the houses off Dresden in Ashford Park. As long as the house is in between Peachtree and Clairmont (Ashford Park), I would go with it. Its closer to Peachtree Road and Buckhead, and with Buckhead becoming so expensive, it seems all the young singles are moving up Peachtree to Ashford Park.
In addition, since you are looking 3-5 yrs down the road, consider that after people in Brookhaven saw what Dunwoody did, when the economy recovers they could form a city or town. A Brookhaven address would do a lot for resale value. Make sure to check this map since these are likely to be the boundaries of "Brookhaven", if it happens:

http://www.campaignwindow.com/meetmi...ookhavenp1.pdf

[mr_deez]

Would a location close to the west side of Oglethorpe university be better than both of these?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by mr_deez

Would a location close to the west side of Oglethorpe university be better than both of these?

Considering that it would give you proximity to the new Town Brookhaven development as well as the best access to Brookhaven proper, I would say that it would be a good choice. 'Better' is debatable, though.
One thing that has yet to be addressed here is schools. The Briarcliff Rd. location offers you the Sagamore Elem/Shamrock Middle/Druid Hills High cluster, generally considered one of the better in DeKalb County. The other two would likely be in either the Cross Keys or Chamblee High district...if Cross Keys, that would be a red flag IMO (although Ashford Park Elem seems well regarded). The school district may not impact you directly, but it will impact your home value.
The Briarcliff/Oglethorpe choices seem about par to me. Both have about equally good access to Buckhead/Lenox Square/Phipps Plaza (Oglethorpe's is a little better); Briarcliff has the best access to Midtown/Downtown (due to its proximity to I-85) and Emory University (a major reason for that neighborhood's stability).
None of these sound like bad choices; like was alluded to earlier, you might to sit on the Dresden Dr house for a while longer before it hatches.

[mr_deez]

Once again, thanks for all the responses