Stay away from Atlanta if you value quality of living. Look to places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Columbus, etc.... big healthcare areas without being the biggest sprawl on the planet or having insane cost of living.
Can you elaborate on Atlanta's poor QoL?
edit: pros-> good Cost of Living to salary ratio, 4 seasons. cons-> humidity, traffic, public education system, lack of attractions (you can only go to the aquarium so many times).
You'll need a car to get anywhere and you're going to spend a lot of time in it. Especially if you live in one of the popular suburbs like Marietta or even Douglasville.
Source: lived in the area a few times.
To be clear, Lithia Springs is as part of Atlanta as Vallejo is part of San Francisco - as Edison is to Manhatten.
You'd need a car to get anywhere if you lived in Vallejo too... And you'd spend a ton of time in it (and about $10 in tolls) to get to Downtown San Francisco.
Prices have risen in the last few years, but anywhere from Midtown to Buckhead to the East Atlanta neighborhoods are great.