I haven't lived there but visit fairly often. I like it a lot. Good infrastructure, good shops, playgrounds, cafes, schools etc.

We couldn't move there as it's too far from Melbourne and both DP and I need to be in a reasonable commuting distance for work. Having said that, lots of people from Ballarat do commute so it wouldn't be impossible - just not great for DP who often has 4am starts.

We did a treechange to Woodend and one of the bonuses for us is that virtually everyone we meet is a treechanger from Melbourne so everyone is up for making new friends. I don't think the same would be true of Ballarat so it would be harder to make friends as people probably have their little circles already. Obviously, I'm not saying you won't make friends but it's easier in places where there's lots of newcomers. A former BB member lives there and I think she reported that it had been a bit tricky.

Check out Woodend (I'm biased). It's about an hour's commute from Melbourne (and Bendigo). Extremely community-oriented with lots of families and young children. We used to live in inner city Melbourne (Northcote) and I don't miss it one little bit.