We had a similar decision to make although I wouldn't call our neighborhood MS perfect as it probably has it's own share of bullying/fights. Apparently this is common in MS, I must have been oblivious when I went through it.
In 5th grade, we had tours set up for the MS choices both for the kids and parents. The GT kids visited both schools. Our DD had already made her choice since she had already taken a class at the magnet but I know the tours were helpful for many families. DD had friends choose both ways. The neighborhood schools have also been trying to phase in many of the themes from the magnet for their advanced classes so just talk to as many former parents/kids as you can from both programs and try to apply it to your family/kid.
wrt homework, it is highly likely that in both MS programs there will be more homework than there was in Elementary school. I had heard many horror stories about homework amount at the program DD chose.
Our experience: So far it hasn't been that bad. Yes she has some math every day, but most other subjects have a lot of stuff done in class or studyhall. For the most part DD comes home and gets her work done by 5 and is ready for whatever else is on for the night. There are nights where there is a project or some type of writing assignment is due that requires evening work but these have been less than 10 days the whole year. They really do give the kids plenty of time to do the assignments without going crazy. There is an adjustment period where they learn how to manage time and use the study hall wisely (after all most of them have been breezing through). While I don't think all of the assignments are value added many of them do get the kids to think deeper about the "why" of their answers vs just filling in worksheets. To me this was the point, to make it not quite so easy breezy but not kill them with it either.
As I said, DD had friends who chose both ways. It really depends a lot on the personality of the kid.
