Having done it both ways (living near relatives when kids were young and moving 6 hours away when kids were 5 and 8), I can say that we prefer living away from relatives. We miss them dearly but this is a much better quality of life for our family and has brought our family and marriage closer together now that we are away ... we love visiting (stay 3 nights max) and love to have visits but otherwise, this way is much better. Of course, it is probably hard to know until you have done it both ways (!) but this works best for us.