For us, the only real 'con' has been disappointment that DP's family doesn't visit more often, and expect us to be the ones trekking back all the time (DS' birthday was too hard for them, grrr), even though we moved because we didn't want to be there all the time and really like being on our farm.
The school bus is awesome for DS and the kids like being in a town where people know them. We were familiar in our old haunt, too, but it was a lot busier and affected by peak hour traffic - we lived in the Dandenongs.
When I go back there I remember what locals here say about it, saying "oh, it's beautiful up there", and I am bemused because I don't miss it and the thought of moving back is untenable to me!
The kids have ponies, we go for bike rides and we could be out riding for 20 minutes and not have left our farm. A bike ride to get the mail takes about 20mins one way (less on way back because it's mostly downhill ), and it's nice for the kids to wave at the tourist train when they're out on their ponies.
Lots of locals have done the OS thing, or done some Melbourne time and have returned to have their families. To me, that says everything, and completely validates our decision to buy a farm this far out of Melbourne. We're about and hour and a half drive from Melb, an hour and a bit from Traralgon, an hour to Morwell, just under an hour to Warragul, 45 mins from Wonthaggi - whatever these places don't have we don't need, or can be ordered online!