Not commuting will make your QOL exceedingly better (at least that's what I'm told...given I've never been fortunate enough to live in base). Here at Mesa (ducking to avoid rocks being thrown), the only one's who have any remote sense of happiness are those that live in base. They're able to practically straight-line bid and maximize days off (what little there are). They don't have to dissect lines for late reports/early releases; thus ensuring commutability. They're not stressing when it's their last day, the inbound aircraft is late, or they have a 3+ hour EDC time, and seeing their commuting chances dwindle to nothing. I could go on and on. The main point is: commuting sucks. REALLY sucks.
Having said that, stability of a base is always in question in the regional ranks. AWAC folks probably never envisioned DEN or ORD closing, and having to restructure their lives to suddenly become commuters to the east coast. Same thing with Horizon losing DEN as well. I thought I would be moving to my base of choice of DEN within months of being hired at Mesa, yet that went buh-bye quickly. If you're really inent on living in a certain base, chose a regional with a slew of bases in that region. Therefore, if one closes, there's at least another in the remote vicinity.
Personally, avoiding commuting would be the over-riding factor in chosing a regional. Followed closely by what's been stated before: contract, work rules, overall QOL/satisfaction of employees, etc (upgrade time wouldn't really be a consideration, for me, as that can and will change).
But you've already made the smartest decision of avoiding Mesa!