My family and I are planning on moving to Georgia from California. Atlanta is surrounded by dozens fo small towns within an hour of Atlanta, but the commute is hell.
Public transportation is only marginally better than Southern California and getting worse daily.
Where you live should be as close to where you work as possible. Otherwise, you will end up spending most of your life in a car, instead of with your family. Working at home,if that is an option, would be ideal. That is the very best advice that I can give, and I live by it. Small towns abound within an hour of Atlanta, but as Savannah was founded in the early 1700's, and the Atlanta area in the mid-1800's, you are not likley to find a town that remotely resembles.