I think it depends on what you want to do and how much you're willing to drive. If everything you want to do is downtown in Atlanta, then you'll be driving some, but that's the way life is in the Atlanta metro area anyway. I've lived all over the US, but mostly in much smaller cities.
Norcross does have it's own stuff, and much of it, though not all, tends towards a lower income crowd.
You're in between the relatively low income and internationally diverse area of Doraville, which has lots of car dealerships, car factories, fast food, etc., and Duluth and Berkeley Lake, which is more high income.
The "downtown" of Norcross is quaint and tiny. It doesn't look anything like the zooming skyscrapers and lofts of downtown Atlanta, but you certainly wont' be in the middle of nowhere either. Even further north of you in Berkeley Lake and Duluth, are Atlanta Country Club, St. Ives, Country Club of the South (the latter two of which house many of the Braves and Falcons millionaires and their families) St. Johns Technology Park. It will take much more driving to be in the middle of nowhere.
And Lake Lanier, which has all sorts of activities, is even further out.
Like most cities, you'll be surrounded by shopping centers, restaurants, fast food, cinemas, coffee houses, and so on. Each town has it's own entertainment in the form of parks, bars, movies, festivals, music, etc. I'm sure the hotel and newspapers for the area can help you with that.
You don't have to go into At. for anything unless there's something specific, like a Braves game, or the World of Coca-Cola, that you just have to see.
