Received IBM offer (having trouble with choosing location and need advice)

Hi all,

I just recently received an offer from IBM as a Business Consultant for their Chicago office. My first choice was for NYC since I am from the NYC/NJ area and also wanted to stay near NJ because a family circumstance. I asked my recruiter if I can change to NYC and she put in a request and I will find out the first week of January whether or not I am able to move, however now I am doubting it. I spoke to a friend in the NYC office and he stated NYC is going through a slow period where there are a lot of people benched and I should take Chicago but he said with my personality, I can easily network and find people who would like me on their team. Below I listed pros and cons of each

Pros of Chicago
-Can potentially have more opportunities to be staffed earlier
-New city and can meet new people (when I studied abroad, I loved the people from the Midwest)
-COL is lower and my salary can get me a really nice "dream-like" apartment

Cons of Chicago
- Being away from my mom who is going through a tough time and slightly need supervision
- Paying rent (will be traveling Mon-Thurs) so I'll barely be home
- Potentially not meeting people (less of a con because I'm an extrovert but still a concern)
- Just the move in general sounds exhausting (finding apartment, buying all new furniture etc)

Pros of NYC
-Live home rent free and can aggressively pay off 28k in students loans
-Closer to friends and family
-Large network in NYC (already thinking of exit ops)

Cons
-Not being staffed and on the bench a lot (I'll still network but I get bored EXTREMELY fast)
-Commute can be a little annoying (Newark to NYC is not bad but can get annoying especially if you're working late)

Any opinions will be appreciated. I'm not sure where I'll end up and will know first week of January but if I am given both options, I think it'll be a really tough decision