Up north of ATL you'll run into the halfbacks. Moved to FL and then halfway back to wherever they started from. Western NC mountains are full of em! Check around Cherokee and Maggie Valley. Waynesboro, Sapphire Valley, Highlands...
We like it here in SC. It's cheap to live and still plenty of places to find land. We have 7 acres just outside of Columbia. TN has some great views, but the weather in middle TN can be violent. The mountains like to create tornadoes. I've known lots of people that are happy in GA, south of I-20.
And oddly enough, the people that already live there are also fearful that those who ruined the northeast will flock there and begin to destroy the state. Hey, wait. You're from the northeast, right?
Dawsonville is nice and not to far from the rink in Gwinnett. Or you could go east on 85 a few exits of road A
My Sis and BIL just moved to E TN (Lenoir City) last April. One of the requirements was access to an ice rink. I haven't seen it yet, but she says it's there.
Check out North Forsyth or Gainesville... Very doubtful your gonna find a nice house low taxes without being in a HOA though.. however there are a couple Ice rinks in the counties, Close to the Mountains, Lakes and major Hwy Arteries. Schools are decent but it’s still growing. Been in my same house for 26 years and it would take a lot to get me to move.. Hell there are 8 tracks all within 4 hours and closer....
I know that area well. I'm in between Maryville and Vonore and ride Rt. 68 south quite often. It's a beautiful part of the entire area here.
East Tennessee. Chattanooga to Knoxville is what you want. I've been in Atlanta area for 25 years and would move to east TN area in a heartbeat. If having a big city job are not a concern then go there.
Middle TN would be the area around Nashville, and surrounding communities. Knoxville, is definitely E. TN, as is Johnson City, Greenville, Tellico Plains, etc. And BTW....the weather in the Nashville area seems to be a lot worse that what we get here. Many times, the weather comes over the Plateau (Crossville area) and then when it comes down in the TN Valley, the southern winds sweeps it north/N.E. and it misses us. Not every time, but quite a lot.
Don't believe that tornadoes always miss East Tenn....One flattened the KOA in Tellico Plains about 5 years ago.
GA is a great state. Throw in Tenn, SC, and NC. Can't go wrong with any of them. I live in upstate SC. I'm 15 minutes from NC, 45 minutes from Ga, and about 2 hours from Tenn. Gods country.