attending b-school far from where you want to live

i want to live in nyc post-grad, thus I want a solid network post-grad in new york. I really like the idea of spending 2 years in a new city or small town outside of the northeast, like Umich, Kellogg, Booth, Berkeley, UCLA, Duke. Or even exploring top European MBA programs. (All of the top schools in the northeast which I like, have become a little too competitive for my credentials.)

However my biggest concern is not having a close-knit network post-grad.
.....My boss went to anderson, from the east coast, and returned to nyc upon graduation, and he says that he has lost touch with all his mba friends. all of them are in California. He is one of the few who came back to nyc. He says that he really regrets not going to a local school, because the best part of mba school is having a whole new set of great friends, MBA school is one of the last times in your life to gain a new set of quality friends. My cousin went to Indiana, now lives in nyc, and he has similar regrets. A co-worker went to Umich, he told me that he is moving back to chicago because his feels like his entire MBA class lives there and he feels left out by living in nyc.

I was curious to know people's opinions, perspectives, experiences on this. ....Maybe the opinions of my co-workers are exceptions to the rule, i don't know.