OK, I'll bite. Just for some background, I've been at Piedmont for 8 years. I upgraded last year when I was 28. I never asked people to help me pay for anything or make ends meet. I've always lived in base and that has required me to move several times; once time 3 times in 3 months. My brother just passed his instrument checkride and is thinking of making a career in aviation. This is the same advice I gave him last night at the bar.
If you don't care where you live, the major carriers could care less where you come from. They only care about minimums and if you meet or exceed them. Ask any mainline pilot and they have no clue what is going on in the regional industry.
With that said, go to where you can get your time and move on or go to somewhere where you don't commute. If you don't commute your quality of life increases exponentially. If you live in base there is a chance that while you are on reserve you can go to your son's soccer game or your daughter's dance recital. It's not guaranteed you can attend but it is better than being on reserve 2000 miles away in NYC. Regional carriers are not designed to be a career places. I wish that was different but its the honest to god truth. If you can't live in base, do your time and move on. Others have already set the bar low and your decision to join or not to join specific carriers (i.e. PSA, GoJet, or Mesa) will not hurt them. I do believe while you are at that carrier you should try to make gains for your pilot group and those who come after you (why I think the PDT TA is a POS) but it's not going to change the industry overnight.
In the end do what is best for you. If you can go to a regional that has a base in Houston but has a longer upgrade and worst work rules your personal quality of life will definitely be better than commuting to NYC during a blizzard.... But if you upgrade in 2 years and start building multi turbine 121 PIC you will be out of the regionals in 5 to 7 years and at the airline you want to be at for the rest of your career.
Nothing is guaranteed in this industry but you need to decide what works best for you. When I got hired the upgrade time at PDT was 7 years going to 3 years since they didn't hire many between 2001 and 2004. I sat reserve for Piedmont for 4 years as an FO thanks to raising the retirement age to 65. There are no guarantees. Either decision you make, just be happy with it.