Traffic on the north side will make you faint. If you get in the car, it's at least an hour to anywhere, sure as the first step in getting anywhere in New Orleans is a u-turn.
Bad side is the landscape on the south side is meh. Lots of flat and red clay. The missus and I looked all up and down the I-85 corridor as far SW as Auburn, and it didn't really do anything for us. Pre-fab, chain restaurants and plenty, and I do mean plenty, of Waffle Houses.
Macon is sort of a quaint town, and probably the only place that has any sort of charm...if you can call it that. Most of the amenities of ATL, without near the hassle or cost. Problem is that it was pretty sleepy in 1990, and now it's like 10 lbs of stuff in a 5 lb sack up and down the I-75 corridor as people fled south. It used to be an easy hour drive, and now I'd guess it's double that.
Age old problem. If you want to be where the nice stuff is, chances are someone else has figured it out, and jacked the prices up. You can do well if you strike out on your own, but you need to do your homework, be flexible and roll up your sleeves.
Nu