[wybo]

Had a somewhat similar experience (except that my (college) friends lived across the Atlantic).

Ideally suburbia should become a thing of the past (and it might, with rising energy prices). But for now I'd say the best thing you could do is move back to the (inner) city (or back to uni for a post-grad).

It may be a hassle but being unhappy is a drain as well.

I can also highly recommend most European/UK cities, as their cores are where people actually live and thrive, rather than that odd mix of blitz corporate office guests and sniffling economic outcasts.