Atlanta-Area Sprawl Heads South.

Byline: Dana Tofig

Jun. 2--There were 850 students and 22 portable classrooms at Locust Grove Elementary School in Henry County this year.

Principal Johnny Harrell expects the opening of a new elementary school will ease his crowded hallways next school year, but he's pretty sure the respite won't last long -- there's a new subdivision being built next door.

"We have a lot of people moving into the community now," Harrell said. "Our school just becomes so overpopulated. It would be nice to have every child inside a permanent structure."

But that's just life in Locust Grove these days.

This town at the southern end of Henry County once seemed to be miles from the edges of metro Atlanta. But the region's sprawl is moving south, and Locust Grove residents soon will be lassoed inside the metro area's constantly expanding activity.

Metro Atlanta continues to grow everywhere, according to the AJC Home Sales Report. There are new lofts and condos in Atlanta. New subdivisions with tiny yards and walking paths in Gwinnett.

Mini-mansions near Lake Lanier.

The metro area continues to spread, too.

Sprawl, like water, looks for the easiest route to flow. With some of the northern suburbs getting built out and land so expensive inside the Perimeter, it has found an easier path south and east.

Some of the most dramatic increases in new-home sales -- a strong barometer of growth -- were found in Henry and Newton counties.

More than 2,600 homes were purchased in middle Henry County and western Newton County in 2001. And judging from the numbers of bulldozers and building permits, the boom will…