Live in a dream location or move elsewhere for family support?

Hi IMs,
My husband and I live in a small town house near the beach in a warm climate, we have some family around but they are not very involved in our life and I can't see that changing. Even though we are cramped, I love where we live, we love warm weather and being outdoors and I love the fact that even if we only have one hour spare we can hit the beach.
The problem is that since we had our first child we are struggling financially and we seem to spend all our time working or doing house chores and never seem to have much time to "smell the roses". I have realised how much better our lives could be of we lived close to my mother. She is really helpful and wants to be a major part in our lives too. The catch is that she lives interstate, inland and in a colder climate and there is no hope of her moving closer to us.
If we did move, I really don't know how we would adjust to the place she lives and it would cost every last cent of our savings to move so there would be no going back. Our hobbies would not be possible where she lives and we would have to start building a friendship group all over again. But I think having a grandparent heavily involved in our lives would be an awesome gift to our little one. We could afford to live in a big house and her help may help lighten the load so that we can enjoy more family time. What do we prioritise family or location?

I would love to hear from others who are very involved with their families and those who are not and live away from family with kids as well as anyone who made the decision to relocate to have grandparents involved in your children's lives. What do you think we should do?