stay out of Hancock county.
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Meh, its all in what you want out of the area. Granted, I wouldn't want to be too close to the city limits of Sparta, but staying near the Baldwin/Putnam/Greene County areas aren't bad at all.
I've lived in Milledgeville since '03. I'm about 25 mins from Lake Oconee (near the dam), and less than 5 minutes from areas of Sinclair. Its not a bad area, but certainly has its problems. It has pretty much everything I need without being overcrowded, and traffic is never an issue. You're still 45mins-1hr from Macon, less than 2 hrs from Atlanta, and about 1hr 15mins from Warner Robins. Savannah is just under 3 hrs, and is a fairly easy drive (I just did it Tuesday). Great thing is, you're still under 3hrs to Helen/Dahlonega.
I like the area, school system isn't bad (GMC & JMA), decent food, and you are still
reasonably close to everything else in the state.