Mike,
I was born in Western NY and grew up in PSL, Florida for 15+ years from the late 70's-90's. The house I grew up in was the only one off of the main drag and now my town has just blown up. I go back and visit the family and can't believe the changes every time, I don’t think construction has stopped since early '90.
The Northeast isn't bad, seasons are nice and winters have been hit and miss over the past decade. I have been up here since '98, separated from the military in '03 and settled for the area. I live far enough out of the city that it's not bad at all where I am. Now you are only a few hours from many of us. MIR is 20 minutes from me!
Change is always hard but change can be good, everything happens for a reason.
Best of luck!