Yeah, you're probably right, and a few years ago I probably would be more inclined to do what you recommend. But then I met a girl who I'm most likely going to marry, and she's not too comfortable moving very far away from her mom and her friends, and she doesn't make new friends too easily.
And I'll admit, it's rather nice being close to family for simple things, like having someone who you can trust to come by and take care of your dog so you can head out all day, rather than being forced to board him. If we're going to have children in the next couple of years, we'll have free babysitting help, which I hear from other parents is worth a whole lot more to your sanity than a higher salary.
And between the two of us, we do alright financially. We are tighter than we'd like to be, but that's mainly due to both of us still having student loans to pay off than anything else. Once those are paid off we'll have a lot more breathing room (although that will still be a few years).
But the job climate is pretty bad here, I'll agree. I'm not really looking forward to my next job search. I probably should start looking already, but the last two were pretty rough, so I'm not looking forward to it and have been dragging my feet getting started.
I also know first hand how tough the universities have it right now, as I used to work for one and I have family that still works at one. I've heard that the state has been as much as a year behind on the money they're supposed to be paying the public schools.
Also there was the proposed bill to privatize all the public universities put up a year ago I think, which to me is the most ludicrous idea ever and I'm surprised he was taken seriously.